Winter's Touch
by JailBr3ak3r
Summary: This is a story about a new demigod, he must defeat the monsters in his path to find his heritage, i hope you guys enjoy!
1. Nick I

I slowly opened my eyes, all I saw was the bottom of a bridge. It was molded and had holes all in the stone it was built from, just my kinda place. I didn't want to get up, the soft dirt seemed comfortable for now, but I had to move. I sat up slightly and I looked around, I was glad to see no animal around me, last thing I want is to be some vulture's snack. I got up and brushed myself off, I then rolled up my sleeping bag and then I walked over to a bush where I kept my bag, so no one would steal it, but nobody would want to steal it though.

The fact I had to do this was terrible. You're probably wondering how I got here, it would take a while for me to tell you everything, but basically someone dropped me off at the foot of an orphanage when I was a baby and I lived there most my life. I didn't know who my parents were, no knowledge of them, all I had was a necklace around my neck. It was leather, but had a blue crystal on it, I never took it off. but a year ago I ran off, I wanted to be more than a poor orphan boy, now I'm a homeless poor orphan boy, what a change. But it was better than being if that god forsaken place, and the good thing is that no one remembered Nick Snow, so nobody worries that I wasn't there. I walked over to the bush and picked up my bag. Okay, it was really a drawstring bag with a few things in it but it was a bag nonetheless, and it was all that I had. I opened it and get out my socks, shoes, and windbreaker. I put on my socks, the left one had a big hole where my heel was and the right had a hole where my toe was. I then put my old loafers on, they were old and beaten up, I'm lucky I found them outside a goodwill, and the windbreaker, I've had it since I left the orphanage, it was to big then and now it fit just right. It was a light blue and super light, sometimes I barely felt it but it was nice to have on. And I swear I've gotten so many holes in it, it looks dirty, but no holes. I then reached in my bag and pulled out my toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste that I stole from a walgreens. I put toothpaste on the brush and brush my teeth, like every normal teen does. I then look for a place to spit it out. I see a small puddle near me, I go over and spit it out. I then saw my reflection.

I had a narrow face with a small nose, but I had piercing light blue eyes, I liked them a lot actually, and besides my eyes, I had a forgettable face, which worked in my favor. But my most notable feature is my hair, my hair was really long, it goes below my ears and goes just above my eyes. But that's not the main reason people always look at me funny, my hair is naturally white, like white as snow. I know what you're thinking, why didn't you just dye it? Well, I've tried a total of ten times, I dye it to like a dark brown, but literally minutes later it turns back to white, I don't even know, but hey, life just hates me. I hated it when people looked at me, so I grabbed the beanie out of my bag and put it on, stuffing my hair in with in. I slapped the water a bit, hated looking at my but a poor boy.

But, now I need to figure out where to go. Ever since I left the orphanage all I've done is move, I never stay in one place for to long. My orphanage is in New Jersey, now I'm somewhere in New York City. So I picked a direction and I went. I had some water bottles and protein bars in my bag so I shouldn't have to go anywhere or steal anything. So I started walking.

I ended up in a forest, it was beautiful actually, it was outside of New York City but I could still see the tall buildings in the city. After two hours of walking in the woods I found myself in a small area in the forest, I don't what it was but it had a concrete floor and a few wooden picnic tables surrounded by trees, it was maybe a rest stop for runners. I decided it was time for a break. I walk over to a table and sat down, I laid my head down and closed my eyes for a bit. It was good to relax. I then lift my head up and put my bag on the table and grab a water out of it. I twist the cap and take a sip, it was nice and cold, but I never understood how it was always so cold, must be weather. I look around where I was and I smiled, this is the dream, just drinking a nice cold bottle of water without a care in the world. There were a couple trash cans around and littered trash, which meant people still came here, that meant it was time for me to go.

But then I heard some movements in the bushes. My head quickly darts in that direction. "Who's there?" I ask carefully. Maybe it's just a dog. I think to myself. I stood up and grabbed a rock and had it in a throwing position. I then carefully walked over to the bush. Nothing happened. I leaned over and looked into it. It moved a little more. "Hello?" I ask scared. I then spread two branches apart with my hands. Then, two glowing dots appear, then another pair appears next to it. They were just staring at me, my eyes go wide. I back up and fall right on my butt. I'm in shock. I then heard a loud growl, but it wasn't the sound of a dog, more like a bear and a lion had a child. I quickly get up and run over to the bench I was sitting at. I shove the bottle of water I had in my bag and I sling it over my shoulders. Before I ran I looked behind me. To beasts jumped from the bushes. They looked like dogs, but they were the size of bulls, with black fur and foam from the mouth. They then turned there heads towards me. I then saw the sharp teeth and red eyes, no pupils. I darted to the woods.

I was pushing branches away and jumping over logs, I was terrified. I heard loud barks and growls from behind me. "SOMEBODY HELP ME! PLEASE?!" I screamed. No one answered. I just kept running. I look behind me to see one of them catching up to me. I had to do something fast, I had know time to think it through so I had to trust my gut. I had a crazy idea. I saw a small tree coming up. I jumped forward and grabbed it with both my hands and I spun around it. I scratched up my hands, enough to cause blood, but I didn't care. I spun and I kicked the "dog" back into the other one. I stand still in a monet of shock, but then I started running again. Is it over? I thought to myself. I look again and they were speeding up, it only pissed them off. Just my luck. But ahead, I saw a big sign, I couldn't tell, but all I saw was camp half, something else but I couldn't tell. "HEY, PLEASE HELP ME!" I screamed. I was almost to the gate. I heard people yelling. I was almost safe. But I felt a sharp pain in my leg, like burning knives sinking into my legs. "AGHHH!" I screamed. I then go in the air. I was flying back, it looked like one of the dogs got me. My back hits a tree and I fell to the ground.

I felt dizzy, my vision was blurry, all I felt was pain, my leg felt like it was burning. But then a sense of cold fell over me, and it was better. But that didn't stop the giant dog that was running towards me. Its mouth was open, I was going to die. It was five feet away, about to jump. But an arrow went through it's head and it turned into a pile of ashes and it was gone. The ashes fell on me. I brush it off, or I thought I did, my vision was blurry. I look over and see a bear jump on the other one and rip out it's throat, it too turned into a pile of ashes. "Frank, is the kid okay?" I heard a girl's voice say. The bear then lost it's fur and got shorter then it turned into a man. He was tall with short black hair, looked pretty strong, he was wearing a black fur jacket with jeans and boots. But he turned and ran towards me. He looked to be asian. "Hey hey, hey, are you okay?" I wanted to tell him: I'm perfectly fine, I just got attacked by giant dogs and then a bear killed them and now he's talking to me. But all I could get out was: "Please….help…" I couldn't move, much less talk. My vision was going black. "I don't know, did you say he got bit?" Frank said checking around me. "Yeah, in the leg, is he not bleeding?" I heard the voice say. Frank picks me up and puts his arm around my shoulder. "I don't know, but we need to get him inside." Frank said. I then felt something, and I fell to the ground. "Oh crap, I think he passed out." I was gone, my vision went dark.

"Agh!" I said as I sat up. I looked around, I was in a small room, I was on a bed, under the covers. I had on a fresh pair of athletic shorts on. I looked down to see I had no shirt on. I jumped out of the bed to see that I had nothing, except my necklace. I looked around trying to find my old clothes. The room was wood and looked old, there was a small table near me and a small couch in the front of the room, my windbreaker was folded over the couch with my beanie. "Oh thank god." I mutter to myself. I run over and I also see jeans, a pair of socks, an orange shirt, and a pair of converse shoes. "Weird." I tell myself. I put on the new jeans and shoes. I then slipped on my shirt. They seemed big when I was pulling them up but they fit just right when I zipped them up. The shoes were hard to put on but once they were on, but then they got super comfortable. I then put on my windbreaker and beanie. I looked around and see a door.

I walk over and stepped out. There was a long hallway which led to a big room there were some pictures on the wall, but the one I noticed was a picture of a kid, he looked to be 14, and he was holding a golden animal hide. He had black hair and sea green eyes, and there two people with him. One was a girl, with blonde hair and gray eyes, she had a dagger strapped to her side and a yankees hat in her hand. And then on the other side of the kid was a, well I don't know what he was. He was skinny with brown curly hair, but the weirdest part was that he had goat legs. What is going on here. I thought to myself.

There were a lot of pictures, but I didn't have time to look at all of them, I needed to leave. I slowly walked down the long hallway and over to the big room. But once I got there I stopped, There was a man, I think it was a man it least, he was in a wheelchair, just reading a book. I was very quiet, I once snuck behind a police officer, so this should be easy. I could tell where the supports were for the floor so I was careful not to make any squeaks. I reached the front door at the end of the room, almost out. I take a deep breath, then I reach for the doorknob. "As impressive as that was, I heard you the moment you opened that door." I heard his voice say. I was frozen. What Should I do? "You should come over here, come talk." He said as if he read my mind. I walked over to the big room again, with my hands in my pockets. This time he was facing me this time. "Come sit." He said motioning to a couch next to him. He looked at me carefully. He had a long scraggly beard and long messy hair, but deep eyes, he looked wise. I walked over and sat down. "Hi, my name is Chiron, it's wonderful meet you." Chiron says. "Hi, can I ask something?" I tell him. "Ugh, sure." Chiron asks confused. "Who are you, where am I, why am I here, and what was with those weird dog looking things?!" I tell him quickly.

"Now, you know about the greek myths, don't you?" Chiron asks me not answering my questions. Weird, of all things, why would he ask me that. I thought to myself. "I know of them, why do you ask?" I ask him trying to sound calm. He looked at me, trying to see what face I'll make. "Well, I'm not sure how you'll take all of this, but those aren't myths, there real and they're all around us." Chiron tells me. That's what it is, I'm in a mental institute and this guy is trying to convince me that greek myths are real. "Okay, thanks but stay away from me you crazy old man." I tell him as I get up. I turn to face the door but then he grabs my shoulder. "Have you ever heard of hellhounds?" He asks me. I think for a minute. "Giant dogs in greek mythology…." I said with the realization. I thought back to the dogs that attacked me. "Those were just big dogs." I tell him nervously. He then gets out of his wheelchair, but his legs were still in the chair. A horse body comes out of the chair leaving the wheelchair behind, he was a centaur. "Now what do you have to say." He asks me. I back up, falling on the ground. I then turn and run to the door. I just reached the door, I was gonna run, maybe I was crazy but I needed to go. I open the door and my fear was confirmed. I step outside and look around, people were practicing with swords and bow and arrows, tons of multi colored cabins, and there was a rock climbing wall with what looked to be lava, this is actually happening. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood." I heard Chiron say from behind me.


	2. Bethany I

It was gonna be a long day. Why can't today be like yesterday. Yesterday we had a new camper and two hellhounds, I still don't understand why I'm here. I thought to myself. I looked at Frank, who was looking everywhere, he was on edge from yesterday. His short black hair was shining from the sun, and he had been losing weight so he looked way more intimidating than he used to be. Literally, he could do everything, he could kill the monsters and then get help, all I do is get people when something happens, maybe shoot a few arrows. It made me mad. Bethany go on watch duty with Frank, Bethany go clean up the Apollo cabin, Bethany go and do nothing useful all day. I thought to myself, I hated this. I should have been a target for crying out loud, I had bright red hair and green eyes, people even joked that I was Rachel's sister, so just screw my life! "Hey, calm down, I know you're mad but it's nice to have someone up here with me." Frank told me. God he's so nice, I'm always looking for a reason to hate him, but I can't. He's a grown man but he helps look after some of the campers, everyday he goes to his home to his pregnant wife, literally I can't hate him. "I know, it's just I don't see the point of staying up here, you can do everything." I tell him. "I know, but just get through the day, okay?" Frank tells me with an apologetic look. I just looked out into the woods, I just need to think. "Hey, cheer up, maybe he's good for capture the flag." Frank tells me. "Oh my god you're right, I didn't even think about that." I say excitedly. Frank smiles at me. "There they are now, Chiron is motioning for you now, go over to him, I'll cover for you." Frank tells me. I turn around quickly. "Are you serious?!" I ask him happily. He winks at me and motions for Chiron. I quickly climb off the nest we were in and run over to Chiron. "What do you need Chiron?" I ask quickly. I was breathing heavy because I ran over to him. "Hey Bethany, I need your help." Chiron asks me. "With what, I'll do anything you need." I tell him. I then see someone behind him, it was the kid who came to camp yesterday, but he didn't look scared, he looked surprisingly calm. He was a little tall, really skinny. He had light blue eyes, bright really. But he was wearing a windbreaker and a black beanie. I knew what Chiron wanted me to do. "Can you give him the tour, and also get him a weapon, he's going to be in the games tonight." Chiron told me. Literally everything I was hoping for was shut down, great. "Wait, what games?" He asks him confused. "Bethany will explain everything." Chiron said smiling. He then walked away, leaving me with this newbie. "Umm, hi, I'm Nick, Nick Snow." Nick said holding out his hand, I could tell he was trying to act happy. "I'm Bethany, follow me and I'll show you around." I said. I didn't take his hand, that requires respect.

I lead him up a hill that shows the whole camp. "This is a big hill, do you do this everyday?" Nick asks me from behind. "Why of course, I climb up this freaking hill everyday to see the place I live." I tell him sarcastically. He then goes quiet. But then we finally reach the top of the hill. The view showed the whole camp. "Wow." He says. It was probably all he could get out. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." I tell him. "This place is huge, am I allowed to live here?!" He asks eyes wide. "Well, yeah, you are a demigod so yeah, or I'm assuming you are." I tell him. "Chiron told me about that." He tells me. "Okay, well you see those colored cabins down there?" I ask him. "Yeah, what are those for?" He asks me. "Those are where you'll be sleeping, they're separated by gods, until you're claimed, you'll be in the Hermes Cabin." I tell him.

Then I showed him everything else, he seemed super excited about it. "Wow, this is great." He said. "Yeah, glad you like it, now we need to get you a weapon and Percy will see how good you are." I tell him. "Percy?" He asks me confused. I forgot he was new, everyone knows Percy. "You'll find out soon, come on, let's get you a weapon." I tell him.

We walk down towards the big weapons building. "It's right over here, come on." I tell him. We walk right in front of the doors. "Those are some big doors." He says looking up. He wasn't wrong, the were 10 feet tall each, and were made of dark wood. This was a fairly new building, it was built two years ago, and it was the size of a warehouse, and it's where a lot of new campers got there weapons. "Just come in, we only have 4 hours until the the games start and we don't even know if you're good with a sword." I tell him agitated. I opened the doors and immediately feel the heat of the forge. It was dark, except for the forge. Noramly it's a lot hotter, but when I was next to Nick, it seemed to be cooler, weird. I looked around and I see it. There was a tall lumbering figure at the forge, working on something, slammin down his hammer repeatedly on a burning piece of metal. "What is that?!" Nick whispers silently. "Calm down wimp." I tell him. "Hey Tyson." I say out loud. He then turns and looks at me, with his one eye. His eye gets wide. "Hey Bethany!" He says as he runs up and gives me a big hug. "Hey big guy, how you doing." I tell him as he lifts me off the ground. He lets go and looks at me. "I'm great, how are you?" He asks me. He had such a high voice for someone who was 6'7, but he was sweet. "I'm fine, but a new camper came yesterday." I tell him. Tyson then see's Nick behind me. "Ugh, hi?" Nick says awkwardly waving. Tyson runs up and hugs him to. "Hi, I'm Tyson, I run the forge, oh it's so very nice to meet you." Tyson says holding him. Nick was off the ground and tapping his shoulders. "Can't...breathe…" Nick mutters. Tyson then puts him down and breathes heavy for a while. He then gets up. "Hi, I'm Nick, Nick Snow." Nick says. I look between the two of them, Tyson was starting to think. "So, we need a favor to ask." I tell him. "I already know, does he have any experience?" Tyson asks in a deeper tone. He might be a happy person, but when it came to making weapons and picking a weapon for someone he was very serious. "No, he's fresh."I tell him. "Hmm, I'm thinking a sword, yeah, I have a good one right now, but just temporarily." Tyson says. "A sword, sounds fun." Nick says. Tyson walks over to a box with a lot of weapons in it and starts to dig through it. "He makes all the weapons here?" Nick asks me. "Yeah, he makes a lot of them, but the Hephaestus kids make some of them." I told him. Tyson then pulls out a sword and walks back over to us. "Here." Tyson says as he hands the sword to Nick. It was three feet long with a simple design. Nick takes it and feels it. But it falls out of his hand right when he grabs it. "Stupid." I mutter under my breath. "I think I have another one." Tyson says. Nick then quickly picks it up. "No, it's fine, I like it, thanks Tyson." Nick says. It was obvious that he didn't like it, but he was holding it alright. Tyson gets a smile. "No problem, if it ever does something weird or you need it sharpen just come to my forge or forger nine, or if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here, but are you sure you don't want a smaller blade?" Tyson asks him. "Yes, I'm sure, this is fine." Nick tells him. Tyson shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, well bye bye big guy, I'll visit you during lunch tomorrow." I tell him as we walk away. We then step out and head to the coliseum.

"So he's a cyclops?" Nick asks me. "Yeah, he's actually Percy's brother, but don't make fun of Tyson because he's a cyclops, we don't do that." I tell him seriously. "Okay, but is Percy a cyclops?" He asks me. I was irritated with him, he asked so many questions. "You ask to much, you'll meet him in like thirty seconds." I tell him. "Okay look, I don't know what your problem is with me but I didn't do anything to you, so could you chill out." Nick tells me frustrated. Was he mad at me right now, was he seriously mad at me. "Listen here, I have to show you everything here, you think I want to do that, I just want to practice my archery skills, so you need to chill out!" I yelled at him. Nick opened his mouth, but nothing came out, he just got behind me and didn't say anything. Good, I won this, so maybe he'll stop asking so many questions.

I bring him to the coliseum. The big entrance was empty, which meant Percy didn't any private lessons right now. I walked in and saw Percy setting up dummies. "Percy, over here, we got someone." I tell him. He turns around and looks at me. "Hey Bethany, and hey, you?" Percy says puzzled. "It's Nick." Nick says walking up in front of Percy. He had on jeans and a orange camp shirt, he also had that watch of his and I could see his pen in his pocket, and his necklace that had all his quests on it. Percy sticks out his hand and Nick takes it. "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson." He says with a smile. "Nick, Nick Snow."Nick tells him. "Alright, let's cut to the chase, draw your sword, let's see where you're at as far as skills go." Percy tells him. Nick draws his sword, but he clearly didn't like it, but he was trying, it honestly looked wobbly. "So, do you have a sword?" Nick asks him. "Yeah, it's right here." Percy says taking out Riptide in pen form. "That's a p..you know what, nevermind, it magic or something." Nick says rolling his eyes. Percy smirks, he then uncaps Riptide and it becomes a sword. Nick is stunned for a moment for, but then just accepts it. "Alright, attack me." Percy tells him. Nick looks at him weird for a moment, but then he lunges forward and ries to cut his arm but Percy dodges it. "Come on, more speed, again." Percy says. Nick attacks again but Percy moves to the side. "Come on, you're making this to easy." Percy says with a smirk. Then Nick goes to strike his leg but then quickly moves his arm up for a surprise attack. Percy quickly blocked it with his sword. Percy looked surprised. "Wow, you caught me off guard there, you can put your sword away." Percy says. "So is he good for the games?" I ask him. "He should be, but we'll see, I have a lesson to do soon, you guys better head out, and see my later, I want to see what else you can do." Percy says looking at Nick. "Sweet, so Nick, get to the Hermes cabin and change, we have the games coming up soon." I tell him.


	3. Johnny I

I pulled up the leather pieces on my legs and got my leather arm guards, I was ready for capture the flag. "I got this, I got this, I got this." I kept telling myself. I then grabbed Jag, my dagger. Before I went out I looked at it, it was custom made by me. It had a jagged edge and had a black hilt and was longer than most daggers, but I could also see my reflection. I had dark skin like dark oak wood, it used to before I went to camp-half blood, but since coming to camp they have grown into dreadlocks, not long like Bob Marley but they went to the top of my shoulders, like Jaden Smith. People said I looked like a hot monster, by that I mean myself when I look in the mirror. I loved it, my face and this dagger. I then put it in the duct tape sheath and then I headed out. I went out of the Hermes cabin and walked towards the place where we were meeting. It was by the woods, I couldn't wait, this was gonna be the day I got the flag. I ran to where everyone else is.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late, Mr. Cool had to get ready." I said smirking. "Oh you're finally here, what took so long." Peter said rubbing my hair. Peter was the cabin leader of the Hermes cabin, he was also like a big brother to me, and he was always looking out for me. He was tall and muscular, he had short blonde hair and was tan, he was the ideal dude for a girl. "I just told you, I was getting ready, but I'll win this for us today, Johnny the beast" I said smirking at some of the girls. "Whether it's Mr. Cool or Johnny the beast you're a big show off, but you need to stay with this dude right here." Peter said grabbing the shoulders of someone who just walked by. "Oh, is that the new guy?" I ask looking at him. He was kinda tall, but I'm short so anybody's tall. He had light blue eyes and a very defined face, but nothing on his face stood out. But he wasn't ready for the games. He had one a windbreaker, jeans, a beanie, and converse shoes, that's all, but I'm still going to be nice. "Hi ya, I'm Johnny, nice to meet you." I say holding out my hand. "Hi, I'm Nick." He says taking it. He had cold hands, weird, it was always pretty warm in half-blood. "Look, just stay by me and I'll teach you how to do everything, okay?" I ask him. He nods at me.

"Alright, everyone gather around." Peter said, he was voted team leader ever since Percy couldn't do it anymore, not because Percy was too weak, but because he didn't want to hurt anybody else, and Percy is now 27 so he's also to old. I looked around and all 40 of us were here, Nick to my left and Bethany walked up on my right. "Hey, is he any good, I heard you gave him the tour." I whispered to Bethany. "A little, he almost got Percy, so that's something." Bethany whispers back. I flashed her a thumbs up. I've known Bethany for years now, she's one of my closest personal Friends, probably my best friend, but she looked ready for a fight, she had on a leather chest piece and a quiver on her back, with her bow an arrow, but her red hair was let down to the back of her neck, she also looked mad, Nick must have given her a hard time. "The games are about to start, the goal is to get the flag and bring it over here, loser has to clean up the pegasus stables, once that explosion goes off, we charge!" Peter yells. We all get ready, this was gonna be fun. "Draw your weapons!" Peter screams. We all draw our weapons, Nick was a little late but he did it nonetheless. Then the explosion went off. "CHARGE!" Peter yelled and we all ran forward. "Stay with me!" I yelled Nick as I ran forwards.

We got in the woods and I could hear the other team coming at us. "Get ready, if you get hit a pegasus will get you,so you'll be good." I yell at him. "Pegasus?!" Nick asks me confused. Then they come up on us. I see one guy running at me and I cut at his leg. "Dang It!" He yells as a pegasis swoops down and gets him. I then I'm just slashing away, I'm not allowed to cut off limbs or strike at the torso or head but everything else was clean. I eliminated 3 people, but I completely forgot about Nick. I quickly turn around but he was doing fine. He was cutting at people and blocking at people pretty good, but it was clear that it was some kind of luck, because he was tripping and stumbling. But I saw an opening between people. "Nick, follow me, we can win!" I yelled at him. He looked over and ran towards me. I went around the fighting and went straight for the flag. Nick was following close behind me. "It's right up here, come on!" I yelled at him. Then we reach the valley. It had a creek and a lot of pebbles, it was beautiful, but right in the middle the sun was shining on a red flag. I looked around for a minute, it was surrounded by trees and the sun was shining on the flag, but no one was near me. "There it is." I tell Nick, I was about to win. Me and Nick jump down and walk towards it. It was so close, I was gonna win the game for the whole team.

"Hey there John, what are you doing here." I heard a voice say from behind me. "Oh no." I mutter. I turn around to see David smiling. David was an Ares kid, and there were to more of them next to him, we just got screwed. He had on metal armor and his warhammer on his back. His long black hair was over his ears and he looked ready to kill. Nick got in a fighting position. "Nick, we can't take these guys." I tell him not taking my eyes off David. I didn't know what to do, just let it happen or retreat. "Bring it." Nick says. He was crazy, but I liked it. I got in a stance too. But then all the sudden one of the Ares ran up and shoulder tackled Nick to the ground, knocking the sword out of his hand. Nick falls down, but his beanie fell off and landed in the water. My eyes went wide. His hair was white, like white as paper, he was clearly not wanting anyone to see it.

"I didn't know your grandfather was fighting with you John, tell him to get up, he looks like he wants a fight." Peter says. I look back but Nick was already getting up, he got up and put up his fists. "Bring...Bring it." Nick mutters. I admired Nicks endurance, but he was gonna get killed, and he looked weird with his hair. Plus, having a strong will can only bring you so far, not without a sword at least. David stepped forward. He had his giant warhammer in his hands, and he was stepping towards Nick. I wasn't going to let him do it, I knew I couldn't get the flag, but I won't give up. I ran at him but he reached down and flipped me over him on the ground, right on my back. I had my breath knocked out of me and my back was bruised. He then steps in front of Nick. "We had a good game, didn't we?" David asks sarcastically. Nick reaches back and punches him in the face. There was a moment of silence, David just stood there, for the eight years I've been here, I've never seen someone punch David. David then kicked him to the ground. "I'll get you after I take care of this moron, stay." Peter says with rage in his eyes. Then he walked over to me with a murderous look. He got in a stance and was going to eliminate me. But I look over and saw Nicks eyes becomes bright blue, not even just his pupils, his eyes became bright blue. As David was bringing down his hammer Nick jumped over in front of me and slammed his fist on the ground and he raised his other hand. There were shields on both of his forearms, like giant spikes, but they were made of ice. It blocked the strike by David and Nick stood up, his eyes still glowing, his necklace was also glowing. David looked surprised, heck, I was surprised. "What...what are you?" David asks him carefully. Nick looked like he was going to backslap David but the ice hit him, which he did. Nick brought it up and smacked David in the chest, making David fly back and hit a rock. Then a pegasus came down, scooped David up, and flew away. The whole time David was screaming and cursing in rage. I looked around but the other 2 Ares campers, but they were gone. Then the ice melts and Nick's eyes turn back to normal. He looked weird without his beanie, also terrifying. "Nick? I said backing up. "What just happened?" Nick asks looking at his hands. He was stumbling a bit, he looked dizzy. "I don't know, but were gonna win!" I said as I run towards the flag.

I then walked over and grabbed the flag with my hand, and I lifted it up in victory. "NICK! WE DID IT!" I yelled at Nick, who just walked next to me, he was clearly confused. I could hear my teammates yelling and coming to where we were. I first see Peter come and jump into the valley. "JOHNNY YOU DID IT!" Peter yells as he runs up and hugs me. Then everyone else run sup, someone puts me on his shoulders, this was actually happening. Then they put me down. "Alright everyone, let's head to dinner, let's go." Peter says. I look over and see Nick, he had his beanie on, I wasn't going to tell anyone about the ice, but he looked sad and confused, like my first day. "I actually have something to say." I say out loud. Everybody turns around. "What's up Johnny?" Peter asks. I took a breath. "I really didn't win this, in all honesty, Nick won this, I just grabbed the flag." I tell everyone. "The new guy?!" I heard a voice in the back say. I look behind me but Nick was trying to leave. "If it was you, or Nick, you're both the winners for tonight, let's go to dinner." Peter says and we all head to dinner.

So as a team we all head to dinner. I quickly grabbed my food and I tried to find Bethany, she needs to know about what happened. I look for her and then I see her. I motion her over and we sit at an empty table. She walks over to me with a tray of food. "What's wrong, did something happen?" She asks me. "Kind of, but we need to talk about Nick." I say as I sit down. She sits across from me with a concerned look. "What did he do, did he do something bad?" She asks confused. I could tell she didn't know about what he can do, she looked confused. But before I could say anything I see Nick walk up next to our table. "Ugh hey guys, can I sit here." Nick says There was a silence. "No, sit somewhere else." Bethany tells him. "Actually, she meant to say of course, any time Nick." I say. Bethany was gonna say something but I kicked her in the leg. She stared at me with rage, but scooted over to let him sit next to her. "Um, thanks." Nick says as he sits down. He didn't have a tray, just a drink, of water. "SO, can I ask something." I tell Nick. Bethany looked confused. "Sure, what is it?" Nick says as. I didn't know how to word this. He took a sip from his water. "What did you do tonight, what are you exactly, you're not a monster because you were able to get in, but what are you, really?" I ask him as I lean forward. He looks at me confused. "What do you mean?" Bethany asks, she was reaching for my dagger, but I slowly put my hand on the hilt, basically saying chill out. "I don't want to talk about tonight." He tells me. I lean back into my chair. "Great." I mutter silently to myself. But I had an idea. I take my drink and think of water. I then splash the water at Nick. Nick looks up, his eyes become bright blue again and his necklace glows, and he lifts up his hands and the water becomes solid ice. Bethany scoots away. "What the heck just happened?!" Bethany asks confused. I was blown away, my mouth was to the floor. I look over at Nick, but his eyes were still glowing, he looked sad. But then his necklace stopped glowing and his eyes became normal. "Dude, that's so cool!" I say out loud. "Why did you do that!?" Nick asks me mad. He then looked around to see if anyone saw, but no one did. "I see why you wanted me to see this, who is your dad or mom?" Bethany asks him. "How am I supposed to know?!" Nick asks her mad. "Who did you live with, mom or dad?" I asked him. "Yeah, my dad is Apollo, so I lived with my mom, so what about you." Bethany asks him. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Nick asks us frustrated. "I don't care, I need to know, so tell me now." Bethany said sternly. I wanted to tell her to chill out, he was clearly uncomfortable. "Look, when I was a baby I was dropped at the foot of an orphanage and I lived there most of my life, but a year ago I left, and I've been homeless ever since then, so can you stop asking questions please!" Nick yelled at us. Wait, is that why he's so skinny? I wondered to myself. "So, you're homeless, or you were?" Bethany asks silently. Nick nods while he looks down. "And you've never met your parents?" I asked him. Bethany shoots me a look. "No, but now I want to find my dad, or mom, and just, god I want to give them a piece of my mind!" Nick says getting mad. He then slammed his fist on the table. But then, like some cruel joke, a symbol appeared on his head. It was a snowflake, white. Me and Bethany backup and all talking in the area stops. "What, what's wrong, why are you all looking at me like that?" Nick asks. I hear Chiron run over on his horse hoofs. "Oh Nick, may everyone know, here we have Nick Snow, son of Boreas." Chiron says. It all made since now. I thought to myself. "Boreas, who is that, why don't I know these things!" Nick says, he looked so confused and scared, I could see some tears go down his face. "Look, come with me, I'll explain." Chiron says as he put his hand on Nicks shoulder. Nick looks up, he looked like he was about to die, his had no emotion other than sadness. "Okay, please tell me what's going on." Nick says as he gets up. Chiron leads him over to where the cabins are, I felt bad for Nick, being thrown into a world with monsters and now he might find out who his parents are, it must suck for him. I looked at Bethany, but she was silent, just watching Chiron and Nick.


	4. Nick II

Chiron leads me away from the dinner area, walked me over to the colorful cabins that I saw. Chiron was quiet, like he didn't know what to do. "So, you are Boreas's son, did you know this?" Chiron asks me. "No, I thought you said that you knew this, I have no knowledge of my parents, I'm a nobody!" I yelled at him. It probably sounded rude, but I didn't care, no one was telling me anything, and it made me so mad! "I know, just making sure, but about three Ares kids said you used ice to win the games, is that true?" Chiron asks me. I told him what happened, about how I made shields made of ice on my arms and how I turned the water into ice. When I was finished he went quiet. "I see, well, we've never actually had a child of Boreas stay here, so there's no cabin for him, but no one ever stays in the Hera cabin, so you can stay there, I can contact zeus to see if that's okay but it should be fine." Chiron tells me. He then leads me to a rather large cabin, it was marble and had a birch wood door. "Is it okay if I have some time to myself, please?" I asked him. "Of course, if you need me, I'll be in the big house, just please make it to to breakfast." Chiron tells me. I nodded and he leaves. I took a breath and stepped into the cabin.

I stepped in and there were bunk beds lined up on the wall, and there was a large couch at the end of the room, and a small room near the couch, I assumed that was the restroom. It also smelled like a new car, I stole one once, for a few minutes. But at the very center of the cabin was a large statue of a woman wearing a robe, it was marble and had a stone slab at the bottom of it, it said Hera. I looked up at it and it's eyes seemed to follow me. I walked around the room, it looked really nice. I sat one one of the beds, but it was really comfortable, honestly too comfortable. I tried every bed, but it didn't feel right. I then walked over to the couch, it was white leather, but I took off all the cushions so I could just sleep on the ground. But then I noticed it was a pullout. I move everything out of the way and I pull it out. It had blue sheets, with an old pillow that had been crunched up it the couch. But I sat on the bed, and it was perfect.

I then sat up and looked at my hands, they looked normal, how did I do that? I thought to myself. I kept trying to do it, to make ice, I tried to trigger it but nothing worked. I tried the spiderman hand thing, saying ice on, drinking water, and humming let it go in my head, scratch that, I sang the entire frozen soundtrack in my head.(I stole a CD player once and that was the only CD I could find, don't judge me.) But then, I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard. And I felt it, I opened my eyes and my hand was whiter, almost blue. I looked at a picture on the wall, it was a cow in a pasture. I acted like I was throwing something at it, and ice came out of my hand and shot the picture. The picture went flying off the wall and landed encased in ice. So I can control it. I thought. I then looked at my hands, I kept throwing a snowball back and forth. I then got tired, I should get some rest, today has been a weird day, and now there was a bunch of snow in my room. I lay back and pull up the covers, I then close my eyes and rest.

I woke up, but it was much colder than it had been, I realized I was standing up. I looked around, I felt taller. I look down and I was something else. My skin was ice blue, and I was wearing some kind of ice armor, big pieces of ice on my shoulders with a chest piece, and ice on my legs. I felt weird. I look around where I was, and it seemed to be some kind of castle, made of ice, it was beautiful but I felt like I shouldn't be here. I the touched my hair and felt it was solid ice, where am I? "Hello, it's so nice to finally meet you." I heard a female voice say from behind me. I turn and see someone coming up. She had long black hair and a blue dress, but her eyes, were just like mine, light crystal blue. "Where am I, and who are you?" I ask her. My voice sounded low, I felt like a monster. "You're where you belong, with me, that is your other form, put this one to be normal, or different, depending how you look at it." She says throwing me my necklace. I grabbed it and fastened it around my neck. Then my armor starts to melt, and my skin turns back to it's normal color. I was wearing my windbreaker and a pair of jeans, standing in a puddle. "You didn't answer my question, who are you?" I asked her. "Well, my name is Khione, I'm the goddess of Ice, do I not look familiar to you?" She asks me. I think for a moment, she doesn't ring a bell, but I just nodded in agreement. "I know you're lying, the last time we met you were but a baby, but I was there when you were born, a sister never forgets." Khione tells me. The news hit me like a bullet, this is my sister? "No, I don't believe you, I never met my parents, and I sure as hell didn't meet my sister." I tell her. She then raises her hand and summon an ice spike, she then jumps in the air, spins around and launches it at me. I quickly raise up wall of ice to save me. I back up, trying to figure out how to go. "I'll let you go...for now, but know I'm watching you." She tells me. She jumps over the wall blasts me with ice, the ice then penetrated my chest.

"AGH!" I scream as I wake up. It was day time, probably early in the morning. . I looked around. Everything was as it had been, it was just a dream. I get the covers off me, and sit up. I then grabbed my chest, it felt normal "It was just a bad dream." I tell myself. I then get up and headed to the mess hall, I needed something in my stomach. I opened the door and headed out. I heard it from where I was, everyone was at the mess hall. I started to walk over there.

When I got there, I was surprised that no one paid any attention to me. I went to get something to drink and I try to find a table. I look over an see Johnny calling me over, I guess I have to to sit with him, he is my only friend. I walked over to him, I then see Bethany sitting across from him. "Hey dude, we saved a seat, it's the VIP seat." Johnny says as Bethany scoots over. "Thanks Johnny." I said as I sit down. "No problem, so, are you good?" Johnny asks me. He was wearing an ACDC t-shirt with shorts on, he also had sunglasses on his forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine, just weird that there wasn't a cabin for me." I say smiling. "Yeah, we've just never had a son of Boreas, or any children of Boreas before." Bethany says. She had a green v-neck on, with jean shorts on, and her hair was let down. "Hey Jack Frost, I got something to tell you." I heard a deep voice say behind me. I look behind me to see David walking up, other campers were moving out of his way, he looked mad. "Come on man, let him eat breakfast." Johnny said. "This doesn't involve you John." David says. "It's Johnny man..." Johnny said under his breath. "Not now, let me eat please." I didn't want to cause any trouble, I hate being the center of attention, I'd rather everybody just skip over me, but that's impossible now. "Can't do that, consider this initiation." David says. I saw some campers standing up. I thought about what to do, I knew what to do, it would cause attention, but would save me another beating from bigger people. I concentrated and shot a ice blast at the ground. "Nice try, but you missed." He says smiling. But then he starts to slip on ice and falls flat on his butt. Everyone then starts to laugh. "You little moron, you'll pay for that!" David screams. "That's enough, we save it for the games." Somebody said walking up. I knew who he was immediately, he was Frank, the guy who saved me. He was really tall and broad, he looked like he could kill a bear with a stare. But he was wearing a short sleeve shirt this time, revealing his huge muscles. "Oh, ugh sorry Frank, my bad." David said. He tries to get up but slips again. The whole mess hall laughs again. That's when I realized everyone was watching us, I had a forgettable face, but this was permanent. Frank grabs his shoulder and pulls him up. He motions his head to the side. David walks off. "Back to what you were doing, and you don't start anything." Frank tells me sternly while pointing at me. I nod my head and he goes away. Then everyone went back to what they were doing, the ice melted and I sat back down.

"Jeez, I freaking love you, you shut him up twice dude!" Johnny says exited. "I don't know, you're getting a lot of attention, I actually need to talk with you, let's go." Bethany says. "Wait, what? What do you mean?" Johnny says standing up. "Sorry Johnny, we'll talk later, bye." Bethany says getting up. I stand up and look back at Johnny. "See ya dude." Johnny tells me. "Come on, let's go." Bethany says grabbing the sleeve of my windbreaker, dragging me away.

She leads me to the strawberry fields. Then we start walking through the fields, just walking. But it was quiet, I didn't know what to say. "So, can I say something." Bethany asks me. "Yeah sure, whatever you need." I tell her. She smiles. "Well, I just wanted to say sorry, I didn't know you were homeless or didn't know your parents, I just, I don't know." Bethany says. "It's fine, you were just being cautious, I think, I'm used to it though, nobody likes homeless people." I tell her with a weak smile. I said it as a joke, but it did hurt, it was better than the orphanage, but I hated being homeless, other hobos would gang up on me and steal my stuff, that's the reason I never stayed in the same place for to long, the other homeless people hated me, al I ever wanted was a home. But now that I'm here, it's all better. "Well, I'm glad you're here, it's good to have someone to talk to other than Johnny." Bethany said with a smile. I smile weakly. We just keep walking, just me and her, I'm glad she didn't hate me anymore. But then I looked back and saw Johnny running towards me. "Johnny?" Bethany asks. He ran up to us and then leaned on his knees. "Are you okay?" I asked him. "Chiron asking for you, something about Rachel." Johnny says breathing heavy. "Wait, Rachel who's that?" I asked out loud. "We need to go, come on!" Bethany says motioning me to come with her. So then we start running for the big house. "You jerks, it least wait up!" Johnny said from behind us.

We run in and I see a girl sitting on the couch. She had red hair, like Bethany's but longer. She had on a black shirt with jeans and they were covered with paint stains. Chiron was in his chair next to her, and Percy was sitting next to her holding her hand. "Oh thank god you're here." Chiron says looking at me. "What happened here?" Bethany asks. "Why do you need me here?" I asked Chiron. "Rachel, she came stumbling into the big house, she said Ice, God, and son." Chiron says. "What does that have to do with me?" I ask. "It means you did something, so what is it?!" Percy asks. He was mad, he probably thought I did something. He looks at Rachel and lets go of her hand and stands up and looks at me. I back up a bit. "Percy...stt..stop." I heard Rachel muttered. I saw a guy sitting next to her, he had long scraggly hair and a long scraggly beard with horns, he also had goat legs, he was the guy in the picture. "Her temperature is down to 78 degrees, this isn't normal." He said. "You, do something, I know you had something to do with this." Percy said pointing at me. "I don't know, I'm sorry." I tell him. There was a long silence. "Percy, calm down, Nick is doing nothing wrong." Chiron says agitated. "I know the problem, the reason he is the only son of Boreas to come here is because he is a monster, I'll end him now!' Percy yells as he pulls out his pen and turning it into a sword. There was comotion and yelling. I felt a tingle sensation. I raised my arm to block his shot, and the ice formed on my arm again. His sword hit it with a loud clashing sound. I then heard the door open and I look behind me to see Frank. "Again!" Frank says putting his arms in the air.

He sighed and ran towards Percy. I moved my arm and it turns normal. Frank then pushes Percy to the ground and gets behind him and holds his arms back. "Hey, let go of me Frank, I swear to the gods I'll skin you!" Percy screamed. "Stop, this isn't okay Percy!" Frank yelled at him holding him down. I was scared, I didn't know what was going on, all I knew was he wanted to kill me. But I felt something. Time seemed to stop, I could see that Satyr running to keep Percy down, and I could see mouths moving but it seemed like we were underwater. But I look at Rachel, and I saw something, she was looking at me. Her mouth moved and I knew what she was saying. "Help…..me…" It then felt like a lasso was attached to my hand and I pulled back. Rachel's chest jolted up and she took a heavy breath. Time started back up and I heard everything. But it was quiet, everybody was looking at me, and back at Rachel. She gets up and walks up to me. But her eyes were glowing green, and mist started to fill the room. She then grabbed my wrist, with a killer grip. "What are you doing?!" I asked her. "Gods in chains, flames in pain, Go where the dead walk, and then where the dead talk." She said in a low raspy voice. She then fell back into the chair and let go of my arm. There was a silence. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened." Rachel said. Percy ran up to her. "Are you okay, you just gave him a quest, and you were dying." Percy said. Bethany and Johnny were looking at me weird, the satyr was with Percy, and Frank was standing to next me. "Let's all calm down, and sit, please!" Chiron says angrily. "Yes, sorry, let's talk about what just happened." Percy said, avoiding eye contact with me.

I sat down on a couch, Bethany sat next to me, and Johnny sat next to her. I saw Chiron sit roll next to Rachel's chair, The satyr kept standing, and Frank and Percy were sitting on a small couch, they weren't showing it but they were both uncomfortable. "So he just got a quest." Frank said. "Really, I had no idea." Percy says laughing. "What's a quest?" I ask. "It's when you get a prophecy, then you have to do what it says, you're allowed to bring two people with you on this quest." Bethany told me. "Gods in chains, flames in pain. Go where the dead walk, and then where the dead talk, what does that mean?" Frank said. "It has to be the underworld, right?" Johnny asks. There was a silence. I didn't know what the underworld was, but I think I could take a guess. "No, that can't be it, it said go where the dead walk, and then where the dead talk, like those are two different places, so the underworld is only part of it." The Satyr said. "Good point Grover, I'm still confused on where the dead walk." Chiron said. "What about a graveyard?" Bethany asked hopefully. "Gods in chains...that can't be good." Percy said. "I think I know where." I said out loud. Everyone looks at me. "Really, how?" Frank said. "Well, I saw the first season of this TV show, called The Walking Dead, and it's filmed in Georgia, they were streaming it at a drive in and I was able to sneak in." I said hopefully. "He's right, me and Annabeth watch it, that must be it." Percy says. Chiron was thinking. "Fine, you leave first thing tomorrow morning, get your things ready, I'll work out the details." Chiron tells me as he points at me. "Okay, and don't I get to pick to people to go with me?" I ask him. "Yes, but I assumed these two are who you wanted." Chiron tells me. I nod and smile at Bethany and Johnny. "Go please, I have things to take care of." Chiron tells me. He sounded kind of mad, but I listened.

Me, Johnny, and Bethany get up and walk out the door. It all happened so quickly, I didn't know how to take it all, it was weird. "That happened." I said camly. "Oh my gods you guys, we get to go on a quest, this is going to be great!" Johnny tells me with a big smile. "Sure buddy, but all we know is to go to Georgia, which is hard enough." Bethany tells us. "Bethany's right, this isn't going to be easy, I think we should all just rest up before we leave, okay?" She asks me. I nodded at her. "You're boring, but I guess you're right." Johnny tells us. He then walked off, towards the basketball court, which left me and Bethany.

Me and Bethany started walking to the cabins. "So, why did you pick us?" She asked me. "Well, you guys are my only friends in this camp, so I had no one else to ask." I told her with a nervous laugh. She smiled. "Yeah, but I'm excited to do this Mr. Jack Frost." She said smirking. "Jack Frost?" I asked her. "Yeah, or do you prefer Elsa?" she asked me. "Jack is fine, but I'm going to the cabin, see you later." I said as I walked away.

I was ready for a nap, a lot just happened, and I've never had a bed where I could go and sleep whenever I wanted. I walked up to the Hera cabin but I heard something behind me. "Hey Nick, wait up dude." I heard. I turned and saw Percy running up to me. He had on an orange camp shirt with shorts and flip flops. But I didn't think he was going to try to kill me, but I was still cautious. "Hey Percy, what's up?" I asked him. "Hey, just wanted to say sorry, I thought you had something to do with Rachel, and we've had monsters disguised as humans before, I was being cautious, but no hard feelings, right?" He asked me. I wa so relieved to hear that, thank the gods he doesn't hate me. "Yeah, we're cool, we're alright." I told him with my hand behind my head. "Okay cool, just wanted to make sure, but I got to go to a sword lesson, so have fun tomorrow and see ya." Percy said, he then ran off, leaving me in front of the cabin. But I opened the door and walked to the pull out, I then laid down, and drifted to sleep.


	5. Bethany II

I was bored, after Nick left I knew Johnny was off doing something stupid, so that left me with like two hours of free time. I then looked at my nails, they were dirty. I then considered going to the Aphrodite cabin, they were always happy to do all that stuff with me, but then I felt my bow on my back, I then decided to go practice my targeting. I then walked over to the targeting range.

It was nearby, so it wasn't a long walk, but I got there and was relieved, no one was here. It was like a large rectangular gazebo facing a bunch of tagrets, Frank and Annebeth built it a few years after the war with Gaia. The walls were decorated with carvings of bows and arrows and there was a wall lined with different kinds of bows, it's where I got mine. I actually pulled out my bow and looked at it. It was black wood, with leather wrapped around the handle, I've had since I was ten, I loved my bow, I called it Ebonwood. I then walked to the front of one of the targets and laid down my quiver, I then took an arrow and put the arrow in Ebonwood, I then drew back. I took a breath and let the arrow fly. It landed almost right on the bullseye, but it missed. "That was good." I heard someone say from behind me. I then turned and saw Frank standing there. His bow was on his back, and he wasn't' wearing his jacket, just his Purple camp Jupiter shirt. "Hey Frank." I said. "You mind if I practice with you?" He asked me. I sighed, we sometimes practiced together, but he is so good with a bow, it's just sad that I can't compete with him. But I wasn't going to say no. "Yeah, sure you can." I told him. He smiled and walked next to me. He then took his bow out and drew an arrow, he then let it fly, it hit bullseye, what a surprise. But I just looked at the ground. I was a failure as a daughter to Apollo...I then turned around. "I'm going to my cabin." I said. Frank then walked up to me. "Wait, you have to see this." He said. He at me with a cocky smile, which was not like him at all. He then pulled three arrows out of the quiver and quickly turned around a shot them all, but none of them even hit the target. "Oh, guess I'm not nearly as good as I thought." Frank said with a laugh. I knew he was faking and just trying to make me feel better, but I couldn't help but laugh.

"Fine, I'll stay if you're gonna be like that." I said looking up at him with a smile. He just smiled back. If not for Frank and Johnny I wouldn't have any friends. I mean yeah I always enjoyed talking with the Aphrodite girls, me and Lacy talk all the time, but my true close friends were Johnny and Frank, and sometimes when Hazel came she always talked to me. I then drew another arrow and put it in the bow, I then let go, and it landed right next to the bullseye. "Same place." I said discouraged. "Try to think more about the shot, you're already talented with a ow, but if you think about the shot and what you're shooting, it will help, I promise." Frank told me. Think about it, I had never thought about it like that, but hey, I'll try it. I took an arrow out and put it in the bow, I then drew back, I took a breath and thought about the arrow hitting the bullseye, I then let it fly. It then hit right in the middle! I smiled and looked back at frank. "Good job Bethany!" Franks said with a smile. I just smiled at him, but his face, it looked like a proud father. Then I thought about it, Frank has known me since I was ten, so he has been a fatherly figure to me, but was he just using me as a training exercise when his wife gives birth? I didn't care, if he was he was a genius, if he wasn't he was just being nice, either way he was great. "I told you it would work, try it again, let's see if it does the same thing." Frank told me. I smiled and nodded. I cocked an arrow and drew it back, I then let go, but as I let go the arrow got caught in my hair and tore out some of my hair. I dropped my bow and held onto my hair, it hurt like crap. "Are you okay?" Frank asked me walking up to me. He then put his hand on my back. "Yeah, I think I might need a quick trim before the quest." I said with a weak smile. "Yeah, you don't want that happening when you're on that quest." He said. "Okay, well I'll see you later Frank." I said giving him a smile. "Bye Bethany." He said. I then picked up my bow and walked out.

About nine years ago, a year after the we defeated Gaia, the Aphrodite cabin did something weird. They opened a hair salon, it was attached to there cabin and it looks just like a barber shop, all Demigods go there to get their haircut, even a lot of adult demigods stop by to there's cut, Nico and Will came, and all the gods used this as there hair salon. They said even though they could make there hair however they wanted, the Aphrodite kids got it just right. It was also free, so it was relaxing, and it was a good place to get caught up on the latest gossip, if you wanted to know. I walked up to the pink cabin and knocked on the door. Then the door opened and I saw Mitchell standing there. He had on jeans and a shirt, but he had been working out recently and looked really good, or it might just be his mother, but he looked good, and he had long blond hair, the ideal man as most girls called him. "Hey Mitchell, I need a trim." I told him. "Of course Bethany, no one is here, so you came at the perfect time." He said smiling. He then put his hand on my shoulder and led me in the cabin.

He walked me through the beds and he led me to the actual salon, there were four chairs and 2 sinks in the back, and there was soft piano music playing in the back, it was soothing. But the only person in there was Lacy, she was the current counselor of the Aphrodite cabin. She had on jean shorts and a camp half-blood shirt on, but the sleeves were rolled up, and her blonde hair was let down in the back, just like her brother, all the guys called her the perfect girl and a lot of guys had a crush on her. "Hey lacy, Bethany needs a haircut.' Mitchell said. He then turned and left, leaving me with Lacy.

Lacy turned and smiled. "Hey Bethany!" She said. She ran up and gave me a hug. "Hey Lacy." I said. I got used to it, she was a touchy person. "Okay, so I'm guessing you need it cut for your quest tomorrow, right?" she asked me as she lets go. Of course she already knew about that, why wouldn't she. "Yep, can you help me out?" I asked her. She nodded. 'Let's wash your hair." She said.

She then led me to the sink at sat me down in one of the chairs and leaned my head back, and started washing. "So, what's the deal with the new kid?" She asked me. "Nick, what about him?" I asked her. She sighed like it was a stupid question. "Well, he hasn't come in to get his haircut, and he's always wearing that beenie, so I don't know what his hair is like." She told me. "He's only been here for two days, but his hair, it's interesting." I told her. "What do you mean?" Lacy said putting shampoo in my hair. 'Well, Johnny told me about it, but Nick doesn't like to talk about it." I told Lacy. "Look, a lot of kids get there haircut before a quest, the reason is not to draw attention to themselves, so if his hair is wild or looks weird we need to make it look normal." She told me. She was right, Johnny said his hair is white, and that is going to cause a lot of attention, so as much as I didn't want to I have to tall Lacy. "Look, I don't think he likes to talk about, but if I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?" I asked her. 'Of course." She said. She sprayed my head, it felt really good. I didn't want to talk, but she was going to find out anyways. "He has white hair." I said. Lacy stopped. "White, you mean like gray?" Lacy asked me confused. "No, Johnny said it was like snow white." I told her. Lacy pressed her lips together, like she was thinking. "That's a problem, we need to dye it." Lacy said. "Look, he hates attention, I feel like he has tried to dye it before, it's probably why he always wears that beanie." I told her. Then Lacy turned the sink off and dried off my hair. "Look, no task is to big, I can fix his hair." Lacy said. She then stood me up and walked me to one of the chairs in front of a mirror, she sat me down and put one of those apron looking things on me, she then spun me around to where I wasn't facing the mirror. "I'm just gonna trim it a bit, okay?" She asks me. I nodded. "So you really think you can fix his hair?" I asked her as she stared to cut my hair. "Of course, and he's kinda cute." Lacy said. That caught me off guard a bit. "I'm sorry what?" I asked her. "He looks like a big toughy, but I can get to him, like a project." Lacy said, she was fantasizing at this point. "Um, you sure?" I asked her. "I even have a new shirt I could wear." Lacy said happily. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, done then." Lacy said, like she hadn't said anything at all. She then spun my seat and I was facing the mirror. My hair was still long in the back, but looked shorter in the front, I liked it. "Thanks Lacy, I'll try to get Nick to come in later today, okay?" I asked her. "I'll be waiting, don't keep me waiting though." Lacy said. I then sat up and walked out of the salon, I saw Mitchell sitting on one of the beds, reading a book. "See ya Mitchell." I said. "Bye Bethany." He said without looking away from his book.

I walked out of the cabin, but I was bored, again. I sighed. Maybe I'll go see what Johnny is up to. I then saw some campers getting ready for lunch, and then I saw Johnny, great.


	6. Johnny II

Me and Bethany were eating lunch, I was so excited for the quest. "So, are you as excited as me for this quest?" I asked her. "For the last time, yes I am, now stop asking me. " She told me frustrated. I just laughed and shoved my face with cheetos. But then I saw Nick walk up to us, with a sandwich, just a sandwich. "Hey guys." He told us. "What's up man?" I asked him. "Nothing much, I just woke up from a nap, so I'm a bit tired." He told me. I then scooted over and he sat next to me.

But then I saw trouble coming. David was walking over to us, and he looked pissed off. "Hey Elsa!" He said walking up to Nick. His warhammer was strapped to his back, and two guys were right behind him. "For once can you just leave me alone." Nick said looking down. "Let me think, no, but what you did this morning, that ain't happening again, so you and me are going to have a sparring match after lunch, you hear?" He asked me. "Dude, what's your deal with him?" I asked him. "Zip it John!" He yelled at me. "Fine, we can spare." Nick said eating his food. David smiled. "Great, see you then, buddy." He said slapping his shoulder. Nick made a face, it looked like it was painful, but then he shrugged it off and took a bite out of his sandwich. I was looking at David as he was walking off, then back at Nick. "You didn't have to agree to it, he's gonna say something that is just a chance for him to beat on you." Bethany said. "Yeah, but it will be good practice before the quest." Nick said. "What about a weapon, you barely know how to use it." I told him. "I'll figure it out, it's just a sword." He said with no emotion. He just took a bite out of his sandwich. I just leaned back, shocked. " You know what, it's going to be one against three, so I'm doing it with you, don't try to tell me no either." I told him. "Come on Johnny." Nick told me. "Sorry bro, we're friends now, so we're both in this." I told him. He probably wanted to punch me, I didn't blame him, but he nodded his head. "Sweet." I said putting my hands behind my head.

He finished his food pretty quickly, he then took a deep breath and stood up. "Alright, let's do this." He said. He then stood up and started walking towards the colosseum, I then was right behind him. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie, since no one's around, I'm scared to death right now, are you?" I asked him. He slowly nodded his head yes. But we kept walking, he clearly had a one track mind, or he acted like it. But we stepped through the entrance of the coliseum, and David was waiting there, with two other Ares kids behind him. He had on just his normal clothes, a black sweatshirt and jeans, and his warhammer was in his hands. "You brought the mailman, how great, even better." David said laughing. The two guys behind him chuckled, they both had spears. "Don't take that from him, say something back." Nick told me. But then I had a flashback, to my first day at halfblood.

I was walking to my cabin, just eleven years old and was a happy as I could be. "So, does Dad know I'm here?" I asked Peter. Peter was just a year older than me, but he was so tall he looked to be 14, and he acted like a mentor. "Umm, yeah, he sent word that he's super happy you're here." Peter told me, a few years later I realized it was a lie, but I felt like he was serious. My eyes went wide. "Really?!" I asked him. He nodded. "Wow, that's so cool, but I'm going to my cabin now, I'm going to meet my brothers and sisters!" I said. "Umm, okay then buddy, if you need me I'll be practicing with Percy, okay?" He asks me. I nodded. Peter showed me which cabin it was earlier, so I knew where to go. I ran to the cabin, I saw three buff looking guys walk out, but I ignored it and ran inside. But I was shocked to see what I saw.

All of my brothers and sisters were around one guy. "Umm, is this the Hermes cabin?" I asked out loud. Everyone then turned and looked at me. "Yeah buddy, are you Johnny?" I girl asks me. "Yep, that's me, Johnny Harkens." I said proudly. I few guys tried not to laugh, I had a high voice and at the time I was 4'8, but I ignored them and just acted like myself. "Look, we'll introduce ourselves later, but some of the Ares's kids came in here and beat up James." She told me. I then noticed the guy in the middle was curled up into a ball, with bruises all over his body, blood rushing out of his nose. "So is that my brother?" I asked her. She looked at me funny. "Umm, yeah, and I'm your sister, I'm Lily." She told me. "Nice to meet you Lily, but if those guys hurt my brother, I'm not going to take it!" I said. Then everyone looked at me, even the guy on the ground. "Look, you're new here, we don't mess with the Ares cabin, it's like a rule." Someone told me. "Until today, Johnny will solve all your problems." I said, I then turned and walked out of the cabin.

"Hey weapon head, how bout you quit messing with my brothers!" I yelled at the three. Now everyone around us was looking at me, it was time to make a name for myself. But the guy in the middle turned his head. "What did you just call me pipsqueak?" He said. "Or do you prefer tiny balls?" I asked him. At this point, everyone was looking at me, I was making history. "Look, I don't even know who you are, but I'm giving you one chance." He said slowly walking up to me. "Oh, in that case, I'm Johnny Harkens, son of Hermes, God of deliveries." I said proudly. "Well, I'm David, and I have a question for you." He told me. People around started closing in, creating a giant circle around us. "Ask away, I'm an open book!" I said loudly. "Does that mean your dad has the brain of a mailman?" He asks me. Everyone around started to laugh a bit. "Well, it least my dad has a brain, unlike yours who does nothing but cheat, lie, and kill." I said loudly. Then everyone started to crack up. "That's it!" David yelled. He lunged forward and started dragging me to the Ares cabin. "Alright little punk, let's see how you do against the whole Ares cabin. I then felt somebody grab my legs.

I don't remember much after that, all I remember is a lot of screaming and me running out of that cabin bloody and crying.

I was back, next to Nick and David was in front of me. I then felt the scar on my sides from that day, I shivered from the thought of it. "Johnny, I said say something back." Nick told me. I slowly shook my head. But then I looked up and saw David charging Nick with his warhammer out. It hit Nick right in the gut. Nick coughed up blood and went to the ground. I then looked around and saw others camper watching this "sparring match". Then I saw the two guys behind David rush up to me. I quickly slid to my left and cut at his leg. I then jumped away before they could grab me. "Come on ice boy, show me something!" David yelled. Nick was slow to get up. But David just chuckled and grabbed his Beanie. "No!" I yelled. But it was to late, Nick's hair was exposed. But right when his beanie came off he fell to the ground covering his hair. "Come on David!" I yelled. But then I felt somebody pick me up from behind, he then lifted me over his head. "First floor, coming down." He said, he then threw me over to Nick, it felt like I died and came back. I tried to get up, but it hurt so much, all I could do was breathe heavy. But I saw Nick, his eyes were starting to glow, something was about to happen. He jumped in the air and threw a snowball at David. He then ran up and his hand became like ice brass knuckles, he then punched David in the nose, then he turned back and gave him a side kick, launching him back six feet, David then fell to the ground. Nick then quickly grabbed his beanie and put it on. He then looked around, everyone was looking at us, he stood straight up. "Good sparring match, but I won." He told David. Nick then flipped him the bird and walked out. I then got up and followed Nick.

"Dude you probably just broke his nose!" I told him. I could tell he was trying to look tough, but he was smiling a bit. "Hey, if he wants round two I'm up for it." Nick said casually. "But I have a question." I told Nick while we were walking. "What's wrong?" He asked me. "Nothing, but why don't you use that sword, if you don't need it, Tyson would gladly take you back, but you always have it, so why is that?" I asked him. Nick looked up. "I don't know man, I feel like I might need it soon, but I really don't, I wish it was like Percy's sword that can turn into a pen, but I guess not." Nick told me. I then got an idea. "Look, the first sword you get is meant to be a beginning weapon, a temporary weapon until you find your fit, Bethany had a sword at first, but when she got claimed she moved to the bow, I started with a double sided dagger, my friend Harley made me Jag, my dagger." I told him. I felt so smart, I even pushed the imaginary glasses up my nose, which Nick ignored. "Well, I don't know how to make a sword." Nick told me. "You don't need to, we have an old shack with cool weapons, that's where Piper got her infamous dagger." I told him. "Piper?" He asked me. "You'll probably meet her eventually, but let's go, follow me." I told him, we then walked to the old shed.

A lot of kids nowadays just stick with their first weapons, or get a custom, not a lot of kids get weapons from the shed anymore. So nobody really takes care of it anymore, it's white paint was chipping and it had plants growing on the inside and outside of it. But the official rule was you could take a weapon from it at any time, but you could only have one at a time, which made since. But I walked up and opened the lock, the I tried to pull it open. "Trouble?" Nick asks me. "Umm, yeah, I didn't realize it's been this long since anyone has been in it." I said. Nick then walked up and helped me pull it open, then the doors swings open and we both fell back and hit the ground. "Thank the gods." I mutter. Then we stand up and walked in the shed.

Some of the weapons were on the ground, but other than that it looked pretty nice. There were like ten boxes of different kind of weapons and some weapons were lined on the wall. Nick then walked in, but his attention was brought to a sword I forget about. It was called jade, it was made by Leo Valdez and Hazel Levesque, the hilt was decorated by emeralds and the blade was shiny white. Nick takes it off the wall. 'That's a good weapons to pick, very flashy and looks cool." I told him. "Does it do anything?" He asks me. Then I remembered, it does do something. "Hold down the hilt." I told him. He held down the hilt and the entire sword turned into an emerald. But then Nick tossed it over his shoulder, and my mouth went wide. "Why?!" I asked him. "Not my color, and it's to flashy." He responded. "Well, how about the fire blade?" I asked him. He then shot a blast of ice at the wall, reminding me why I shouldn't use get the fire blade. But the he walked over to the corner, there was a long stick leaning against it. "What about that one." Nick said. "Oh, that's an old one, I don't even know what it does." I told him. He then picked it up, it looked like a walking stick. It looked like old dark oat and had a lot of scratches in it, like a splinter nightmare. He held in both hands. "I don't know Nick, it's an old one." I told him. "I like it, it's light, and it suits me." Nick said. He wasn't wrong, Nick had that hobo look going on with the long hair and beanie, so the walking stick suited him. "If it called it called to you, I won't judge." I told him He looked at me and smiled.

We then walked out, Nick was using his new "weapon" as a walking stick, he clearly liked it. I then saw Bethany walking up to us. "Hey guys, good job on the fight." She said. "Thanks." I said. But then she looked at Nick. "What's that?" Bethany asked him. "Oh, this I my new weapon." Nick said proudly. Bethany looked at him funny, but then just shrugged. "Well, I was gonna go to the rock climbing course, wanna come?" Bethay asked us. "Yeah, sounds like fun." I told her. Rock Climbing?" Nick asked us. "Oh dude, you have to try it." I said. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not." He said, we then walked over to the lava rock climbing course.


	7. Nick III

I was so tired, we were rock climbing for three hours, but no one wanted to tell me that there was lava! But we finally stopped, and once we were off I collapsed. I was drenched in sweat and ready to go to bed, it was like 6:00 and I had a quest to do, I just wanted sleep. "Was it that bad Jack?" Bethany asked me. I didn't mind the nickname, I really didn't, but not when I was this tried. "I officially hate you guys." I muttered. "Oh, well I have news and after that, you're gonna hate me even more." Bethany told me with a slight smirk. "What do you mean?" Johnny told her. "Oh, I got him an appointment to the Aphrodite cabin." Bethany told him. "Oh, does he know about this?" Johnny asked her. Bethany shook her head. "In that case, I'm off to dinner, I'll save you a seat Bethany, but Nick, you'll probably take a while." Johnny told me. I was so confused, but Johnny just walked off. 'What's going on?" I asked Bethany. "Just follow me." She told me. At this point, I didn't what to do, so I grabbed my walking stick and just followed her.

Bethany led me to the cabins, but we walked up to a pink cabin. It was surrounded by a white picket fence and it looked like a barbie house. But she led to me to the white door and knocked on it. Then a girl opened the door. She had blonde hair that was let down in the back and had tan skin and was rather short. Her eyes were blue and her outfit looked good, it was a flannel shirt that were pulled into a knot at her stomach, and she had on khaki short shorts, she looked good. "Hi, you must be Nick." She said with a high voice. "Umm yeah, nice to meet you." I said holding out my hand. She took it and shook it, but her other hand was on the other side of my hand. "Well I'm Lacy, and I've been told I need to fix your hair." She said. Oh no, that's what this is about, they're going to do something to me hair. I backed up a bit. "Look, Lacy, you seem nice, but I'm good." I said as I let go of her hand. I then took another step back. But she then grabbed my hand again. "Oh don't be silly, it needs to look nice for tomorrow." She said. But then she reached and grabbed the collar of my windbreaker and pulled me down, and then got close to my ear. "I also know about the color of your hair." She said silently. My eyes went wide, crap, she knew. I then got close to her ear. "I've tried to die it, it always goes back to it's normal color." I whispered to her. "Trust me, I can fix it." She said. "Um, this is weird, I'm off to dinner, see you tomorrow Nick." Bethany said from behind me. I forgot she was there. "Oh, bye Bethany." I said. She then walked off, leaving me with Lacy.

"Good, now we can get started." Lacy said. She then grabbed my hand and led me into the cabin. It was a normal cabin, a little smaller then mine, but it was nice. There were some kids on the bunks, but they seemed busy. But Lacy led me to the back, and then we went through as door, and then I just stood there. It was a whole hair salon, with six chairs and two sinks in the back, but there was someone in one of the chairs. She looked like she was maybe 27, and she had long curly blonde hair, but it had a streak of gray in it, and she had an orange shirt on with jeans. "Sorry Annabeth, I'll get to you after I'm done with Nick." Lacy told her. "Okay, Sally is watching Sandy, so take all the time you need, but it is late, so don't take to long.' Annabeth said. "I know, but he has a quest tomorrow, and his hair is different." Lacy said. I wanted to tell her thanks for throwing me under the bus, but I just kept walking, keeping my head down. But Lacy brought me to one of the sinks. "Okay, so you can put the walking stick and your jacket over there." Lacy said point to a coat rack. I nodded walked over to it and took off my windbreaker. I put it on the rack and then leaned my stick against the wall, but next to it was a weird shaped sword, like a bone sword, it looked awesome, but I ignored it for now. I then walked back to Lacy. "Okay, now the beanie." Lacy said holding her hand out. I thought about it, but I couldn't do it, I hate my hair and didn't want anyone seeing it. I then looked over and saw Annabeth watching in anticipation, her eyes were gray, it didn't match the blonde hair but it suited her. I slowly shook my head. "Look, I can't do this, can I just go?" I asked Lacy.

"What's wrong with you hair?" Annabeth asked me. "This!" Lacy said loudly. She then snatched my beanie off my head, I saw my hair fall into my eyes. Lacy and Annabeth both gasped, I hated my life. "Please, I don't want to do this." I told Lacy trying to cover up my hair. Lacy just threw my beanie over her head. "To bad, sit in the chair and we'll get you cleaned up." Lacy said with a smile. She then sat me down and leaned back my head. She then started to [put water and put shampoo in my hair. "Oh jeez, you have cold hair." Lacy said. 'Sorry, just blame my dad." I said silently. But then I saw Annabeth walk up to me. She pulled up a chair and sat next to me. "So, you're the son of Boreas?" She asked me. "Yep, the god of ice is my dad." I said. "So can you control ice?" Annabeth asked me. "Sure can, call me Jack Frost." I told her. She laughed a bit. "Okay, so you're a witty guy huh?" She asked me. I nodded.

"So I'm going to apply the dye now." Lacy said. "Okay, sweet." I said. She then put some dye in my hair and started to rub it in my hair. She seemed happy, so I didn't want to tell her it wasn't going to work. "Okay, there it is!' Lacy said proud of herself. "Check again." I said. Lacy then looked at my hair and her smile was gone. "Oh you're right, it's white." Annabeth said. Lacy stood there thinking. "Look, I like that you're trying, but I'm going." I said getting up. But Lacy put her hand on my chest, sitting me back down. "I know what will do the trick, the strong stuff." Lacy said. She then went to a closet at the end of the room. "I want to tell her it's pointless, but she seems so happy." I told Annabeth. Annabeth shrugged her shoulders. "Not all daughters of Aphrodite are like that, but a lot of them are." Annabeth told me.

"Here we are." Lacy said from the closet. She then came out with a golden tube. She then walked over and leaned my head back again. "Look, I do really appreciate this, but it will never work." I told her. "I used to listen to pop music, and one of the songs said never say never, so I never say never." Lacy said firmly. She then put the new stuff in my hair and started scrubbing away.

She was rubbing it in for like ten minutes, it got boring, I was about to fall asleep. I then closed my eyes. "Done!" Lacy said loudly. My eyes shot back open, jeez she was loud, but she needed to know that my hair was going to become normal again. "Give it a few seconds, it will go back to its old color." I told her. Lacy shook her head. "No it won't, go look in the mirror." Lacy told me. I sat up and then Lacy quickly dried my hair off with a towel. I then go out of the chair and walked to the mirror, expecting to see my hair it's normal white, but I was shocked. It wasn't turning back to white. It was dark brown, still long but brown. I walked up to the mirror, and just looked at myself. I then touched my hair. "Did I do good?" I heard Lacy say from behind me. I turned and saw her standing there, with her arms behind her back. "I've always had to hide my hair, to live on the streets, but you made it to where I don't need to hide anymore, thank you." I said. She just smiled. I couldn't help myself. I ran up to her and put my arms around her, giving her a big hug. I thought she was going to push me away, I did it in the heat of the moment. But instead she put her arms around my back. "You might just end up stealing my heart." Lacy said silently. I then realized Annabeth was still there. I then let go, but I was so happy. "Again, thank you, so so much, I owe you a favor.' I told her. "A favor huh, I'll that hold against you." Lacy said with a giggle. I then walked over and put my windbreaker on, and grabbed my stick. "Okay, well if you need me to cut it again after your quest, you know where to find me." She told me. I nodded at her. "Bye, nice meeting you." Annabeth said. "Nice meeting you too." I said. Then I stepped out of the salon, and walked through the bunks.

I then stepped out of the cabin, but I realized that I didn't have my beanie, but I didn't care. I walked to my cabin, free, with normal hair. I didn't even want dinner, I was just happy to have this hair. I walked up to the Hera cabin and opened the door. I then dropped my stick and took off my windbreaker, I then walked over to the pullout bed and collapsed in it. I then closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep.

"What is this!" I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and found my in a giant room, made of ice. It looked like a giant bedroom, there was a chandler on the ceiling and there was a huge bed a the end of the room, and it looked much bigger than my cabin. But then I saw Khione standing over me. "Why am I here?" I said angrily standing up. I was glad that I was normal, wearing my windbreaker and necklace. "I brought you here, but what is wrong with your hair?" She asked me. She sounded offended almost. "I fixed it." I told her. Her eyes filled with anger. "You ruined it, and how is it not changing back." She asked me. "A daughter of Aphrodite helped me out." I told her smirking. "Curse them, but it will change back eventually." She told me. I got annoyed. "You still haven't answered my question, why am I here?!" I asked angrily. "Oh calm down, you're gonna blow a fuse, I brought you here to tell you about your quest." She told me. "What about it?" I asked her cautiously. "I want to help you, take this weapon." She told me. She then pulled out a weapon. It was a sword made of ice, it was jagged and had a white hilt. I took it in my hand. But then I threw it back. "I don't want it." I told her. Khione looked mad. "It is a gift from me, a gift from a god, take it!" She yelled at me. "I have a weapon!" I yelled back at her. She rolled her eyes. "That stick is not a weapon, take this instead." She told me. "No, I don't want it." I told her. She then walked over and picked up the sword. "To bad." She said. She then threw the sword at me quickly, I didn't have time to make a shield. The sword then hit me in the arm, cutting through my windbreaker.

It was awfully painful, like getting hit with a icicle made of acid. "AGHHH!" I yelled as I went t the ground, grabbing my arm. I then slowly let go and there was something on my arm. A tattoo. The tattoo was a sword made of ice, just like the one Khione gave to me. "What did you do?!" I asked her angrily holding my arm. "There, it's easy to hide and it looks good, you're welcome." Khione told me. I then reached for the tattoo and felt something, then I pulled and a cut appeared in my skin and the sword came out and the tattoo on my arm disappeared with it. I then stabbed myself in the arm but there was no pain, the sword just slid in and the tattoo appeared again. But it was there, I have a tattoo. "This isn't good." I said. "But it is." Khione told me. But then the castle started to shake. "What is that?" I asked looking around. "That stinks, but it's time for you to go.' She said. Then everything went dark.

I woke up back in my bed, but Frank were standing over me, shaking me awake. I then covered up my arm, but made it look casual. "Hey Frank." I said tired. "It's time to get up, don't you remember your quest." Frank asked me. "Yeah, give me five minutes and I'll get ready." I told him. He nodded and walked out of the room, leaving me wondering if I just had a dream or if it was reality. I then let go of my arm and my worst fear came true, it was real. The tattoo was still there, knowing was different about it. I might have had a minor panic attack.

I got out of bed but then fell to the ground shaking. This is real, I have a tattoo, so now I'll always have to wear a jacket. I think I just devolved anxiety, I was shaking and wanted to scream, but I pulled myself together, I then got up and tried to brush it off. I walked to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. But while I was doing it all I could think about was the tattoo. But I spit out the wash and walked back into the room. I walked over and put on my windbreaker and grabbed my walking stick. I then stepped out of the cabin.

It was early, the sun hasn't fully risen yet, and no one was out, everyone was still asleep. I walked to the entrance, it was a nice walk, just me and my thoughts. But once I got near the entrance I saw some people. I saw Chiron in his centar form, Bethany, Johnny and Frank were next to him. Bethany looked like she was ready to go, se had a backpack and a case, it looked like a case for an instrument, but that's probably where she kept her bow. And she had on jeans, and a jacket. But Johnny, he was another story. His hair looked messy and all he had was a backpack, he had on a loose t-shirt and jeans, but he looked out of it. "Hey guys." I said once I walked over to them. "Hey Nick, glad you could join us." Chiron said. "Where's your bag?" Bethany asked me. I then realized I didn't have one, I felt stupid. Chiron could tell I didn't have one. "Don't worry, I brought one for you, this has clothes and drachmas in it." Chiron told me. He then handed me a black bag, it looked nice, I fell in love immediately. But I was confused. "What's a drachma?" I asked him. "It's a way for people to communicate, we call them Iris messages." Bethany told me. "How does that work?" I asked out loud. "You need to make a rainbow with mist and then throw a drachma in it, then you must say: "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." Chiron told me. I had a lot of questions about it, but it was obvious that Frank was ready to go.

"Hate to break this up, but we should get going, the train leaves in two hours." Frank said. "Train?" I asked. "I forget to tell you guys the plan." Chiron said. "What is it then?" I asked him confused. "Me and my wife Hazel are going to drive you to the train station, from there you're going to go to atlanta and stay the night with Jason and Piper, and then you'll go to Senoia." Frank told me. "Wow, this should be fun then." Johnny said tiredly. I then looked around. "Where's your wife?" I asked him. "She's waiting in the truck." Frank told us. "Well, that means that you'll be going soon, I hope it goes well and please come back in one piece." Chiron told us. I nodded. Bethany and Johnny both smiled. Chiron then walked back to the big house, leaving us with Frank. "Come on, my truck is over here." Frank said.

We walked out of the entrance and he brought us through the woods, there I saw a small parking lot. "We have a parking lot?" I asked confused. "Yeah, whenever people need a haircut they need a place to park, and me and Percy don't live at the camp, so we need a place to park our cars." Frank told me. I just shrugged my shoulders. But then we walked up to his truck. It was a GMC Sierra 2500, it was huge. It was black and looked like it had a tan interior. "Just throw your stuff in the trunk and hop in the back, it's about a thirty minute drive from here." Frank told us. We all threw out stuff in the trunk, then Johnny got in, Bethany sat in the middle, and I got in next to her, it was a little tight, but I didn't mind. But I saw someone in the passengers. She had dark skin and light hair, she was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, and it was obvious she was pregnant, this must be Frank's wife. But then Frank got in the passenger's seat. "I know you haven't met her yet Nick, but this is my Wife, Hazel." Frank said. "Hi, I've heard about you." Hazel said looking at me from the front. "Hopefully all good things you've heard." I said with a laugh. Hazel just smiled. But then Frank cranked up the car and he started to drive. But then I realized something. "You know, this is my first time in a car." I said out loud. Bethany then looked at me with a face of disbelief. "Really?!" Johnny asked me. "Yeah, I've always walked everywhere." I said. "Here." Hazel said handing me a bag. I was really confused "What's this for?" I asked her. "You'll need it, trust me." Hazel told me. But 5 minutes later, my stomach started to hurt.


	8. Bethany III

**Hey guys, just wanted to say thank you for all the support you've been giving, and some of you guys have been telling em to work on some of my grammar, I promise that will get better, and just wanted to let you guys know that I love you all, thanks, enjoy!**

We were almost there, but Nick wasn't looking good. He was looking green, Hazel was right when she said he would need the bag. "Are we there yet." Nick said weakly. "Yeah, were pulling into the train station now." Frank told us. Nick just nodded. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready for the 17 hour train ride though?" I asked him. His eyes went up and he just puked in the bag...again. But then Frank pulled up in the parking lot and put his truck in park. "Okay buddy, we're here." Frank said trying to comfort Nick. "Thank the gods." He said as he got out of the truck.

He got out and put his hands on his knees, I honestly felt bad for him. Then I got out and Johnny out out after me. Frank and Hazel then got out. "Okay, so your train leaves in an hour and 15, so we should hurry, I'll get your things." Frank said. He then climbed into the trunk and threw our bags out, I was gonna say something, but he did give us a ride, so I kept my mouth shut about it. I walked over and picked up my backpack and the case for my bow. Johnny and Nick picked their stuff up too, and then we started walking to the train station.

We were walking through the streets, but I noticed Nick was looking really nervous, and he had his stick very close. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "You okay Nick?" I asked him. He slowly shook his head. "What's wrong?" I asked him. "Hey, it's Jerry!" I heard someone say from behind me. I turned and saw two guys standing there. One had on a thick jacket, old boots with a hole in it, old jeans and a beat up beanie, his hair was long and he had an unattractive beard. The other guy had on a loose long sleeve shirt and old cargo pants, his shoes were basically just pieces of leather, and is hair was hidden by an old baseball hat. They were tall buff homeless people, and they seemed mad at Nick, I then connected the dots in my head. "Who?" Johnny asked. "Not you pipsqueak, we want him!" The other guy said pointing at Nick. "Hey Dan and Steve, funny seeing you here." Nick said looking down. "Yeah, it is funny isn't it, you know you really screwed us, taking our beans after we rightfully stole 'em!" Dan said cracking his knuckles. He then took a step forward. But then Frank stepped up, Dan and Steve were tall, but Frank was towering over them. "What's going on here?" Frank asked with his arms crossed. "Listen here eggroll, all we want is Jerry, so move it." Steve told him. Frank eyes went wide. He then grabbed the collar of Steve and picked him up off the ground. "Now you listen to me, you will not be hurting him and you will leave now, and if I ever see you again, you're going to have a bad time, you hear me!" Frank yelled at him. Steve didn't look so tough anymore, and Dan turned around and ran off. "Yes, yes sir!" Steve said with his voice cracking. Frank then let him go and Steve ran off. "You, you scared them off, I've been avoiding them for two weeks now." Nick said with his jaw to the floor. "You're a demigod now, which means no matter what I'll always have your back." Frank said with a smile. "I don't like this part of town, let's hurry to the train station." Hazel said with a weak smile.

We then walked to the station, it was a rather small station, just a single train, but the words were clear: Next departure, Atlanta Georgia. Frank went and gave the guy our tickets, then we walked to the station. "ALright, so when you get there Piper will be waiting, then you'll go with her to her to her house, you guys got it?" Frank asked us. "Yeah, thanks for the ride." I said happily. "And thanks for dealing with Dan and Steve." Nick said quietly. "And one more thing, please don't die." Hazel said. "Oh yeah, don't die please." Franks said a little to seriously. "Don't worry, we have the protection of Johnny, we'll be safe." Johnny said smirking. "Alright, well I hope to see you soon, goodbye." Franks said ignoring Johnny. He and Hazel then left, leaving us three. "Let's go in, best not to waste time." Nick said.

We walked up to the train and got in, it was pretty big and really nice, the seats were the ones where it was a table in between two seats. But thank the gods there was no one here yet. We saw an empty seat right under the under the air vent, Nick probably would want that one. "This one looks good." I said. "Sweet, and it's a window seat." Johnny said. "They're all window seats Johnny." Nick said with a sigh. Johnny then looked around at the other seats. "I know, I was just making sure you guys remembered." He said stuttering. We then put our stuff in the compartments above and sat down. But then Johnny sat down and stretched out his legs. "Sorry guys, but I claim these two seats for myself." Johnny said with his hands behind his head. I ignored him, but Nick sat down and I sat next to him. The seats were super comfortable and the cushions were really big. When I sat down I almost fell asleep right there. But then I remembered, I brought my sleep medication.

Ever since I was a little kid I've always had trouble sleeping. It's probably my ADHD but I could never fall asleep on my own, so I would take sleep medication. When my Mom moved me to Camp Half-blood she told Chiron that I needed the medication, so have my own cabinet in the Apollo cabin where I keep my medication, and I brought a bottle for this trip, obviously so I can sleep, and I can sleep on the train ride, I should be a daughter of Athena I'm so smart.

"Okay, I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm might take a nap." I said. "Good for you, I'm doing the same thing." Johnny said while laying down on the two seats. I then pulled out the bottle of pills and opened it, I then put one in my mouth and swallowed. I then leaned my head back, and closed my eyes.

I woke up, in the sky. I was floating, weird. But then I drifted down and realized that this was more of a vision, not a dream where I could move. But then I was in front of a house, it was by the beach and surrounded by sand. In the driveway was two cars, a white Jeep Wrangler and a bright red Lamborghini Huracan. But then I moved to an open window and I was in the house. It was a small two story home, with three rooms and two bathroom. But I went to the living room and there was a women. She had caramel skin and almond colored hair, and was wearing jeans and a white tank top, but she was one the ground crying. In her hands was a picture. It was her in a wedding dress, in the arms of a latino man. He had dark brown curly hair and a chin goatee, and his smile explained how happy he was. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but I couldn't, all I could do was watch. Then I saw three words appear on the wall: Flames in pain. Then my vision went dark, and silence.

I slowly opened my eyes, I was back on the train. But then I felt that I had some kind of pillow, then I realized that my head was leaning on Nick's shoulder. I shot my head up, I hope my head hasn't been like that the whole time. But then I wondered how much longer until we got to Atlanta. I looked to the person across the aisle, he was awake and reading a book. I leaned over and tapped his shoulder. He then looked at me. "Yes?" He asked me. "Hi, I've been asleep for most of this trip, do you know how much longer until we'll get there?" I asked him. "Oh, only about 10 more minutes I think." he told me. "Thanks." I said. But when I sat down I started to think. That means I just took a 16 hour nap. My eyes went wide. But the the intercom went off. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at your destination soon, so please wake up your sleeping friends, haha." She said. It was obvious that the lady talking had been doing this all day, so she was trying to sound excited. But I looked at Nick, He was leaning against the window, I then tapped his shoulder. "Jack, wake up." I told him. He then opened his eyes. He then looked at me, peircing me with his crystal blue eyes. "Hey Bethany." He told me with tired eyes. "We're almost here." I told him. He nodded and put his hands in the air and stretched his arms. But I saw something on his forearm, I couldn't' tell what it was, but it was black. "Hey, what's that on your arm?" I asked him. He then immediately put his hands down. "Nothing!" he said loudly. A few people looked at us, I don't think he meant to be so loud. He then lowered his head. "It's nothing, please don't ask about it." Nick said silently. I decided it wasn't a good idea to push him.

I then noticed that Johnny was stretched out on the two seats. I leaned down and kicked him. He then jolted up and hit his head on the table. "Oww, why? He asked me agitated. "We're almost here, so get up." I told him sternly. He just grumbled under his breath and sat up. Once he was Nick leaned forward.

"Look, we need to establish a plan." Nick told us. "What do you mean, we have one." Johnny told him. "Okay, so we're going to meet with Piper, stay a night at her house, and then go to Senoia, then what?" Nick asked us. Johnny looked confused. "Well we're gonna, well you know, don't we have a plan?" Johnny asks no one in particular. "Nick is right, we need a plan, all we know is that we need to find where the dead walk, so something is going to be there." I told both of them. The both nodded. I was gonna say something, but the train started to slow down, we were pulling into the station. "Thank you so much for choosing us, now have a pleasant day!" The female voice said over the intercom. "Look, let's just get our stuff and talk about it later." Johnny said rolling his eyes, he was obviously bored.

We got out of our seats and grabbed out stuff, then we walked out of the train and into the station. There were a lot of people, much more than in New York, but I noticed something about them. This wasn't the normal New York city people, these were country people. Baseball hats and big jeans, flannel shirts, and they were all super nice. But through all the beards and camo, one person stood out. She looked like she was average height but was pretty skinny, she had on skinny jeans and a t-shirt and a feather in her hair, she also looked to be cherokee with dark brown hair, but it was nothing new, I recognized her from the salon. And she had a sign, it read: Bethany, Johnny, and Nick. "I think that's Piper." I said pointing at her. "How can you tell?" Johnny asked me sarcastically.

We walked up to her, she was on her phone, which was weird for a demigod, but then I saw a dagger strapped to her side, but no one seemed to notice it probably just the mist. "Umm, are you Piper?" Nick asked her. "Yes ice for brains." I told him rolling my eyes. "Yep, that's me, I'm Piper, and you guys must be Nick, Bethany, and Johnny, nice to meet you all." She told us with a big smile. She had a kind aroma around her, she seemed like she liked picking us up. "We sure are." Johnny said with a smirk. "Okay, I heard about you, you're Johnny, and I've met you before, Bethany, and you must be the son of the Boreas, right?" She asked Nick. NIck nodded. If not for his now dark brown hair she probably would have already asked. But then I looked at his hair and noticed something, it's now a light brown, not dark brown, so it was getting lighter, not good. But I decided to tell him later.

"Well, it's almost dinner time, so follow me and we'll go home." She told us.

Then we walked to the parking lot and we then walked to a pretty big car. It was a new white Chevy Suburban. It was a big ride. "Another car ride." Nick said to himself silently. I then turned and looked at him. "Hey, just lie down in the back or something, it's probably a bi SUV, so you're good." I told him. He gave me a weak smile. Piper than walked over to the drivers side. "Shotgun." I said as I opened the door to the passenger seat. "Very back." Nick said under his breath. "I hate my life." Johnny then said. Nick then climbed into the back, and Johnny sat in the middle of the car, but next to him I saw a carseat. "Hey, sorry for the carseat, Jason forgot to take it out." Piper told Johnny. "It's all good, I mean you're giving us a place for the night, so everything is A okay." Johnny said with a thumbs up. Piper smiled and put the car in reverse.

We pulled out of Atlanta pretty quickly, it was in the afternoon so traffic wasn't that bad, but Piper told us it gets backed up in the morning and night. But it was fun, just a nice drive, but I was nervous. The dream I had, who was she, is she good, will I meet her? So many questions were in my head. "Alright, I like to go down this backstreet, it gives me a good view of a lot of fields, but it's about 20 minutes longer, so sit tight." Piper said. But when she went on the road, I saw why she liked it so much. The sun was almost setting, it was laying over the field, making it look beautiful. It reminded me of where I grew up, it reminded me of Mom. But then something interrupted my thoughts.

Something hit the side of the car. It was loud and hard and the car went rolling to a ditch in the side of the rode. I was strapped in, but I was still dazed and dizzy, but when my vision came back I realized the car was upside down. I looked over and saw that Piper was alright. I tried to turn my head around, but it was hard with the seatbelt. "Nick, Johnny, you guys good?" I asked them scared. "Just great!" Johnny yelled at me. But Nick didn't respond. "Nick, are you-" I was cut off again, something hit the car again, this time the car went and hit a tree, it was now laying on its side. "Ask questions later, get out now!" Piper yelled at us. She was right, we needed to get out of the car.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, but then fell to the drivers side on top of Piper. "Sorry." I said. But then Piper picked me up and jumped up and out of the car, I was skinny but she was stronger than she looked. But then I saw a terrifying beast. It was a lurking eight feet tall and had the body of a very strong hairy man, but it's head was that of a bull with one horn, and it had on full armor. It had no weapon, but it looked strong, it was the Minotaur. "My gods." I muttered. But then Piper pulled me down from the other side of the car. "Come on!" She said loudly. We run over to where Johnny was standing, but a fear came over me. 'Where's Nick?!" I asked loudly. "I thought he was behind me!" Johnny yelled back at me. But the the Minotaur jumped over the car. He then looked at us, with rage in his eyes. Piper then drew her knife, and Johnny drew his sword. "We'll take care of the cow, you get Nick!" She yelled at me. I didn't ask questions, I just ran to the car. The Minotaur looked at me, but then it was distracted by Johnny and Piper. So ran around the car where the roof was, on the ground. I then climbed up on top and dropped through one of the cracked windows in the passenger's side.

I fell into the car, and to be honest it didn't look to bad, it still looked like it could work but it was destroyed visually wise. But I could worry about that later, I needed to find Nick. I quickly jumped in the the back seat and looked in the trunk, and I could see why he wasn't getting up. He was laying down in the back when we got hit, so his seatbelt wasn't on and he got thrown around a bit. He was now laying on the ground, with blood dripping from his head and glass in his legs, his walking stick was right next to him. "Nick, Nick!" I said going over to him. He didn't respond. I then rolled him over, and his torso was also covered with blood, but he was breathing. I then picked him up a bit, and tried to get him out of the car. But couldn't do it, he was heavier then I thought. But then I saw the sunroof, and I had an idea. I climbed to the front of the car and pressed the button that opened the sunroof, but it wouldn't open. "I hate my life!" I yelled. I then ran to the sunroof and pulled it open with all my strength. Then it opened, thank the gods. I then grabbed Nick and his walking stick and got him out of the sunroof. We both fell on the grassy ground. But then I heard a loud smacking noise. I then looked up and nearly died of shock. "AGHHH!" Johnny yelled flying through the air, he then landed in the grass. But he then got back up. "I hate this thing!" He said loudly. But then he saw Nick. "Holy crap, is he okay?" Johnny asked. "Fine…" Nick muttered under his breath. He then leaned forward. "Hey hey hey, you're a little hurt." I told him. He just shook his head. "I'm good, now where is the thing?" He said, he was clearly out of it, but I admired his sudden strength.

But then the Minotaur jumped over the car, it's eyes were dead set on Nick. Nick then sat up, to my surprise, and then he picked up his stick. His eyes the started to glow and he ran up to the beast and smacked it with his stick right in the face. The Minotaur just looked mad at him, he then went for a punch but Nick rolled out of the way, then his eyes started to glow, he then blasted the Minotaur with a blast of ice. It hit him right in the eye, the minotaur backed up holding its eye. Then I saw Piper jump on it from behind, stabbing in the back of the head. It's eyes ten went wide, and it crumpled to dust.

I stood there in shock. Piper then stood up. "Well that was fun." She said with a nervous laugh. "Yeah, pain in the butt though." Johnny muttered under his breath. "Tell me about it." Nick said. But I was shocked to see him, well like he was. His windbreaker was clean, no blood, and it looked like there wa sno glass in his jeans. "Nick, your windbreaker." I said with wide eyes He looked really confused. "What about it?" He asked me. But Piper said something before I could respond. "Look, that was exciting, but we need to get home before another one comes out." Piper said. "Wait, does this happen often?" Johnny asked her. "No, but you guys are attracting them, come on, help me set the car up right." Piper told us. I just nodded, this was a great start to our quest.


	9. Johnny III

Me and Nick helped get the car upright, mostly Nick though, he is a lot stronger than he looks, but he also used ice so that might help. But I just cringed in my head when I saw it, there was a big dent in the passenger's side of the car and dents in the roof, they were big and looked unfixable, and the inside of the car was full of napkins that fell out of the glove compartment. Now, I'm just 14 and I don't know a thing about cars, but it hurt to look at. But Piper looked fine, like nothing was wrong.

"Guess Leo will have to visit." She said calmly. I stared at her with wide eyes. "But, your car." I told her. But Piper just shrugged. _"It's fine."_ She told me. But something bout her voice, it was different. Then I looked at the car, yeah it might look like crap, but it still runs, so it's absolutely fine, nothing is wrong with it. "You're right, it looks fine." I said. Piper just smiled. I then shook my head, I don't know what just happened, but Nick and Bethany were looking at me like I was nuts. They were giving me a face that said: What are you ding? I just looked at them ad shrugged my shoulders.

We then got in the car, but the back was messy, so me and Bethany sat in the middle row and let Nick sit in the front. But I was confused, why did I all the sudden think that the car was fine, it was bothering me a lot. But then my thoughts were interrupted. "The AC is down, could you fix that by any chance?" Piper asked Nick with a laugh. But Nick was sinking in his chair, he has really bad car sickness.

"He's not good with cars, give him a minute." Bethany said leaning forward. "Oh, okay I see what it is, never mind then buddy." She said patting his shoulders and laughing. He just nodded his head slowly. I felt bad for him, but it was pretty funny.

But after ten minutes of driving we arrived to a neighborhood, it was called Riverside. There were a lot of houses, ranging from all sizes, some were big and new, other were small and old. But she then pulled up to one of the big ones. It was a tan color and had a red roof, the grass was really green and there was a basketball goal in the driveway. But there were two people in the front yard, a man and a little girl. The little girl had tan skin with light brown hair, she looked part Indian, but not entirely. She had a small nose and blue eyes. She was wearing jeans and a pink shirt with a purple heart on it, it looked like she was seven to eight. But then the man next to her was another story. He was really tall and muscular, he had short blond hair and a matching beard, and he had sky blue eyes that were covered by a pair of golden glasses, it didn't match his built appearance but I sure wasn't going to judge. He was wearing a purple tank top that said SPQR and black athletic shorts, he looked like a surfer and a lumberjack morphed into one person. I'm assuming he was the little girls daughter, and maybe Piper's husband. But there were throwing a softball around, it looked like fun, wish dad did that with me.

But Piper just smiled and waved and pulled into the driveway. She then opened the garage and pulled into it the garage, but then I saw his car, and he became my idol instantly. He had a yellow charger with racing stripes, it looked awesome, chargers were my favorite car. "Welcome to my home." Piper said with a smile as she opened the door. I got out of the car, and was in awe by the garage.

It had a small wood workshop and tools lining the walls, and there was a picture on it. Two men, one was the guy outside, I'm assuming her husband.. His beard wasn't as big though, but next to him was a skinny guy. He had curly dark brown hair and a chin goatee, he was also wearing a simple white cotton three button shirt that had stains on it, he also had welding goggles strapped to his forehead. They two were building something and the frame read: Learning something new everyday. I then looked away from the workshop and to the other side, there was three bikes lining the walls, a black one, a yellow one, and a kid sized pink bike. And everything else seemed nice.

"Hey Pipes." I heard a deep voice say. I turned and saw the guy walking up to us. And the little girl was behind him. But he walked up and kissed Piper. "Ew!" The little girl said. But then Jason's eyes drifted to the car and then they went wide. He then let go and looked at it. "The car!" he said loudly. Piper then pulled him by his collar to her. "We'll call Leo, it's fine." She told him. Jason just nodded, they were probably going to talk about that later. But then he turned towards us.

"Hi, I'm Jason, I don't know what happened in the car, but I hope it didn't ruin your Georgia experience." Jason said with a weak smile. "Yes, this is my husband Jason." Piper said. I'm the only one going to say it, but this was officially awkward, I just wanted to sleep, and this lumbering 6'2 man was talking to us. But then I heard a cough from behind Jason. He moved and I saw the little girl. "Oh, and this is my daughter." Piper said. "Thalia Piper Grace, nice to meet you." She said in a high pitched voice. She was cute, but she was clearly spoiled, but not a brat, but clearly spoiled.

"How bout we go inside, Jason will bring your bags in." Piper said. Jason looked confused. "I will?" He asked Piper. Piper then shot him a look. "Yes you will." She said sternly. He then rolled his eyes and went to get our stuff, but Nick had his walking stick close to him, I still don't know why he likes that thing so much, but something for everybody.

We walked in through the garage to the kitchen, and it was super nice on the inside. The smell was vanilla and the floor was polished wood. The kitchen had black granite tops and it was also on top of the the appliances, I was in awe by everything.

I stepped in and a roomba hit my foot, but then turned and went somewhere else. But then over the breakfast bar I saw the living room. It was two couches connected and it was black leather, and next to the was a matching chair, and there was a huge TV, and right next to that was the stairs that went upstairs, I was in love. "You have a very nice house." Bethany said looking around. "Yeah, my dad donated half of his money from his latest movie to us." Piper said with a smile. "Who's your dad?" I asked her. "He's an actor, but don't ask anything else about him." Piper said, there was something about her voice, so I decided to back off. "Okay, so I know it's getting late, we have to extra rooms in the basement, Bethany will be staying in one and Nick and Johnny will stay in the other." Piper told us. "Sweet." I said. I was actually pretty happy, the bed is most likely better then my bed back at camp half-blood.

"So, Jason will get your bags down there soon, but you guys can chill in the big room downstairs or just go to sleep, but I need to do some paperwork for my job, so you guys just chill." Piper said. She then turned and walked up the stairs. I then turned and faced Bethany and Johnny. "So ,I'm going to look around, I don't care what you guys do but I'll be up here for a bit." I told them. "I'm chilling downstairs, see you." Nick said. "I'm to tired to look around, I'm there with you Jack." Bethany said. Her and Nick then walked to the basement door, leaving me in the kitchen.

But I then drifted to the living room, I was dying to look in there. But there was nothing that I didn't see earlier, except for a shelf full of pictures. One picture was of Piper and Jason. It was clear that it was their wedding picture, Piper was wearing a pretty white dress and was holding onto the arm of Jason, who was wearing a very nice suit. Piper had a huge smile on her face, like a kid at Christmas, and Jason was smiling, but he doesn't look like the smiling type so he had a slight smile, but it was the nonetheless. His face was also clean, no beard, I then noticed he had a small scar on his lip, fun fact of the day.

Then the next one way clearly the groomsmen and bridesmaid. They were wearing matching shirts and vests, and the ladies had on black dresses. I recognize some of the groomsmen, I saw Percy, Frank, and some other guys who must have been from camp Jupiter. One guy had a cup of some kind of red liquid.(I'm going to pray to the gods that it's kool-aid.) Another guy had black hair and was skinny and pale, but I think I recognized him, It's Nico, who used to stay at Half-blood. But then I saw the best man, it was that skinny guy again, he had a childlike smirk on his face, like I had a lot of the time. And on the Bridesmaid side I saw Hazel and Annabeth, Percy's wife. But that was all the ones I knew, not gonna lie, it made feel stupid that I didn't know anyone in the pictures except for like five people, but I digress.

I then drifted to the next picture, it was one of Piper and Jason, but I could tell that Piper was pregnant at the time, but her and Jason were still smiling. There wasn't anything else to important about the picture, so I went to the next one.

The next few pictures were of Thalia, when she was born, her first bike, and her first day at school. I smiled, I've always wondered what it would be like to have pictures of yourself put on walls by your parents, but I wouldn't know, Mom never liked having pictures of me on her wall or on her shelves, and I barely seen Dad.

"Hey mister." It scared the crap out of my, I was lost in thought and here comes Thalia, sneaking up behind me, or just normal walking and I didn't see her. "Ugh, hey Thalia Piper Grace." I said with a laugh. She smiled. "You're funny, but can you do me a favor?" She asked me. "I guess." I told her. She then pointed to the top of a very large fridge. I didn't know what she was talking about at first, but I turned and then I saw it. An iPad, sitting at the top, I assumed it was hers. But then I connected the dots in my head. "I don't know about that, your dad probably put it there for a good reason." I told her backing up. " _Dad took it away because I got in trouble at school, but I didn't get in trouble at all this week, so I deserve it."_ She told me.

Then I thought about it, if Jason took it away because she got in trouble that's fine, but if she was good this week, then she should have it back. I then looked back up at it. "Yeah, I'll get it for you." I told her. Then I got on top of the counter and stood up, I wobbled a bit, but then I regained my balance, I then reached up and tried to grab the iPad. It was in the reach of my hand, almost got it.

"What are you doing?" I heard someone say behind me. I turned and saw Jason standing there, with three backpacks in his arms. "I umm, well I was getting Thalia her iPad..." I told him. I then realized that I was climbing on their counter tops, what was I doing? But then Jason turned to Thalia. "Did you do this?" He asked her. Thalia looked down, then slowly nodded her head. "You can't do that, now go to your room." Jason told her. She then walked away, leaving me very confused.

I then climbed down and stood in front of Jason. "Okay, I'm sorry but I am so incredibly confused, Piper did something like that to me today." I told him. He looked at me, not in a mean way, but an apologetic look. "It's called charmspeak. Piper has it and Thalia has it, it means that you can convince people to do anything, it's hard to resist, but I'm immune to it, if you're around them for long enough it loses the effect on you." Jason told me. "That explains everything." I told him. "Yeah, you're good, why don't you go downstairs, that's where bethany and Nick are. I need to talk with Thalia and then I'll bring your bags down. " He told me. But it sounded more like a demand, so I didn't argue and walked to the steps to the basement.

I walked to the door and opened it, the air must have been on because it felt like I got hit in the face with a gust of wind, but it was just the air conditioning. The steps were made of carpet, so I took off my shoes and socks and walked down the steps, the carpet felt nice on my feet. I walked down the stairs and saw it was like another living room, but with white fur couches. But Nick and Bethany looked like they were having fun. There was a TV and it had a Nintendo Switch, and Nick and Bethany were playing Mario-Kart 8. "And that's another win for Apollo." Bethany said. Nick just rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry that I've never played a video game." Nick said leaning back, but it looked like he was having fun.

"Hey guys." I said walking to them. "Oh, hey Johnny." Bethany said. "We've been waiting for you, what took so long?" Nick asked me. I was to embarrassed to say, so I just shrugged my shoulders. "Alright, well we need a game plan, because we're all still clueless." Nick told me. I then walked over and sat on the white fur couch it was super comfortable. I then leaned forward on my knees. "Well, none of us know what we're dealing with exactly, so how are we supposed to have a game plan?" I asked them. "I don't know, I don't know if you guys remember, but I'm new to this whole demigod thing, so I have no idea, I figured there would be something." Nick said.

But then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, then I saw Jason walk down the steps with our bags. "Hey guys, the bedrooms are behind you guys, this one is for Bethany." Jason said putting a bag in one room. "And this is for you two." Jason said as he dropped off the other two bags. "Thanks." I told him. "Yeah man, but I'm going to bed, we'll wake you up tomorrow, have a good night." He said as he walked upstairs.

We all just kind of sat there, not sure what to do. Then Bethany stood up. "Well, game plan or not I'm tired after the 17 hour trip, so I'm going to bed, and you two should do the same thing." Bethany told us. Then without saying anything else, she walked over and picked up her bag, then walked in her room.

"Harsh." I said. Nick shrugged his shoulders. "She's right though, we should hit the hay." He said standing up and walking to the room. "Who says hit the hay anymore." I muttered under my breath. But I followed him and got my bag, then we both walked into the room.

It was a pretty nice room, but there wasn't much in it. Just two beds and an end table in between. The end table had a lamp that was turned on and an alarm clock, or just a clock. I was gonna change, but Nick just took his shoes off and got in. "You're not going to change?" I asked him. "Why would I?" He asked me. I forgot, he was homeless. But I was still changing. I took off my shirt, but I heard Nick gasp. "What happened?" He asked me.

I knew what he was talking about, my back was not pretty, it was covered with bruises and cuts from David, he's been beating on me for the past three years, so I have some scars. "It's just some scars." I told him as I got in my beds, but I wanted to end the conversation, I practically sank into the bed. "That looks bad, is that David?" He asked me. I like Nick, I do, if not for him I wouldn't be on this quest, but I didn't want to talk about it. "It's nothing Nick." I said sternly. I looked over at Nick, but he was just laying on his back looking up. "Look, if you don't stand up for yourself, it's not going to stop." He told me. "What about those two guys that Frank took care of, you just hid from them!" I told him loudly. Nick then sat up. "That's different Johnny, living on the streets you don't want to start something, especially for me, because if the cops found me they would bring me back to the orphanage!" He yelled at me.

There was a silence, and Nick was biting his tongue, I could tell. "Nick...you were an...orphan?" I asked him. "I'm tired and I'm going to bed, goodnight." He then reached over and turned off the lamp, leaving me confused as to what just happened, but tomorrow I'll act like it didn't happen.


	10. Nick IV

I wasn't getting any sleep, I was afraid that if I dream Khione would talk to me again, give me something else that makes me "unique." I looked over at the clock, it said 6:00, I knew I wasn't going to get sleep, so I sat up and got out of bed.

I stood up and stretched my arms in the air, I then stepped out into the main room, I didn't want to wake up Johnny, so I might as well sit on the couch. I stepped out and a blast of air from the vent above the door hit me, it felt good. I then walked to the couch and sat down. But something kept bothering me, it was my tattoo. I then took off my windbreaker, revealing the sword tattoo.

I just looked at my arm, I hadn't taken off my windbreaker since I left Half-blood. To be honest this tattoo scared me. Not like I want to cry, but it just makes feel uncomfortable. But then I reached for the sword. I felt it, then I pulled, a cut appeared in my arm and I pulled it fully and held it in my hands, the blade was made of ice with the white hilt, it felt good in my hand, it was light, but I couldn't use it, I then shoved it back in my arm.

"What is that?" I heard someone say from behind me. Oh no! I thought to myself, I quickly grabbed my windbreaker, but it was to late. I knew who it was, Jason, and I saw walk around the couch sit down next to me. I didn't say anything, I was to scared to say something. But he just held out his arm, and turned it, revealing a tattoo on his forearm, exactly where mine was, but on his right arm instead of his left arm. It was an eagle with its wings spread out, and under it were the letters SPQR, then there were a bunch of lines under that, it looked pretty sick. "Now, tell me where you got that." He said pointing at the sword. His voice, it sounded like a father, someone who was strong willed and who was willing to help. I told him everything, I didn't just tell him about how I got the sword, but I told him everything else. How I was dropped off at the orphanage and how I ran off when I was 13, how the hell hound attacked me, when I woke up in the big house, when I won the games, when I was claimed, when I got my prophecy, then I told him when I got the sword, and then how I got here. I don't know why I was willing to tell him all these things, but I just let it out. But he just sat there and listened, not interrupting or telling me it was to much, just sitting there.

And when I finished, there was silence, but I felt something on my face. It was a single tear, it just fell out. I then wiped it away, I suddenly felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I said to much." I said. But he just shook his head. "I'm glad you told me Nick, but always know that you need to stay strong." He told me. I looked at him confused. "What do you mean?" I asked him. "Well, it seems like you don't fully understand your strength, like you think you're weak, like when you backed away from those homeless people, but if you beat an Ares kid, you're top notch." He told me. I never thought about it like that. David was one of the strongest kids, so if I could beat him, wow. Jason could see that I was thinking. "Well, I got up to go for a run, and when I get back I'll wake the other two up, so you can get ready." Jason said. He then stood up and walked to the stairs. I just waved, he gave me a lot of things to think about. But then he came back down. "One more thing, don't be afraid to use that sword either, heck of a weapon." He said, but he left before I could respond.

But I just put my windbreaker back on and walked to the bathroom at the end of the room. I stepped in and turned on the light, then I looked in the mirror, but I almost screamed, it was my hair. It was dirty blond, when I got it dyed it was practically black. This isn't good, at this rate it'll be white soon, I needed to do something, fast. But I had an idea.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out a drachma. I turned on the water, I then looked up and saw one of those small windows that at the bottom of houses, there wasn't much, but there was the sun, I opened the window slightly and let the sun through, it hit the window and made a small rainbow. But what do I say? I couldn't remember, but I could remember a bit, so here goes nothing. "Oh Iris, goddess of the drachma, or rainbow, please do me a favor and let me talk to Lacy." I said. There was a silence. I then put my hands together and looked up and the sun. "Please?" I said.

"Hello?" I heard a girls voice say. "Thank you." I said silently. I then looked at the sink and saw lacy's face, she looked confused, I hope she'll be willing to talk to me. I walked over and looked at her. Her entire face was covered in a rainbow mist, but I could still see her. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had on an orange camp shirt, but she looked the same, besides how she looked a little confused. "Hey lacy." I said. Her eyes went wide. 'Hey Nick!" She said loudly. "Hey." I said quietly. "So what do you need, are you feeling lonely?" She asked me. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I ignored it, I needed her help. "It's my hair." I told her. She looked confused. "What about it, because I can't fix it now" She told me jokingly. "I know, but it's turning blond." I told her. "Oh, well I can't do anything while you're there, so you're just gonna have to where a hat or something when it turns white." She told me. "Oh." I said looking down. "Oh I'm sorry Nick, if I could hug you I would!" She said leaning forward. "It's good, but I need to get ready, so see you later." I said. "Okay, bye hugs and kisses!" She said. But before I could say anything back she was gone. "Weird." I said to myself. But I did need a shower. So I stripped down and stepped in the shower.

I was in there for a while, it felt so good. The water nice and cold, and I used conditioner for the first time, felt good. I stepped out and dried myself quickly. I then put on my clothes and stepped out.

I walked to my room, but when I stepped in Johnny wasn't there. Great. But I walked to my bed and picked up my bag, then my walking stick. I then stepped out and walked up the stairs.

They were eating breakfast, I guess I took to long of a shower. Bethany and Johnny were sitting at a big black wood table, but the plates in front of them were empty. "Jeez, took you long enough." Bethany said smiling. "Yeah, sorry, I'm still not used to this whole showering thing." I said sheepishly.

"It's all good Nick, but a unnamed son of Hermes ate your food, so I made you an eggo, I'd make more eggs, but we need to go because I need to get to work." Jason said handing me an eggo, I grabbed it, but I almost laughed when he was done, he was wearing a purple compression shirt and short, with tennis shoes. I would guess that the shirt said SPQR, but I couldn't tell. He had on an apron that said: "Kiss the cook." But I took a breath in, I could not laugh. "Yes sir, thank you." I said trying not to crack a smile. But then Jason clapped his hands together. "Well, let's get you guys to downtown Senoia, it's just a 45 minute drive." Jason said. I rolled back my eyes. "Great, again." I said under my breath.

Then Jason took off the apron and stepped out, we then followed him to the car. He then got in the car. "Shotgun!" Johnny said. He then ran and slid over the hood of the car, but fell to the ground when he went over. I then busted out laughing, Bethany was laughing to, it was the best thing I'd ever seen. "Look, you can have the front seat, but don't try to be a cool guy." I said leaning on my knees laughing. He then stood up, he slicked his hair back and stepped in the car like nothing happened. Me and Bethany then climbed in, and I laid my stick in the floorboards. We then buckled up, another long ride. Jason then looked back at us. "Alright, Bethany, Nick, and James Bond, you ready to go?" he asked us. I laughed a bit, but nodded.

'What about the car?" Johnny asked him. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to call Leo." Jason said as he put the car in reverse. He then backed it out the driveway, and went on the road. "You know what, I'll call him now, he might have some "motivating" words." Jason said with a smile. "Sweet, he sound cool." I said. Jason the pressed a button on the cracked console. Then a beeping noise came on. "Call leo Valdez." Jason said. "Calling Latino Santa Elf." A robot voice said. Jason laughed to himself a bit. Then a picture came on the screen, it was of a skinny guy, he was next to Jason in front of a beach. He had on a pair of flame swim trunks, and Jason was wearing a pair of black swim trunks, it looked like a good picture. It rang, and rang again. But then it hung up. "Oh, normally he picks up, I guess he's busy or something, sorry guys." Jason said. He sounded a little sad, but I didn't want to push it, I was starting to get a headache anyways, so I leaned back and closed my eyes.

"Wake up Jack." I heard. I opened my eyes. Bethany was shaking me awake. We were in front of an old brick building. "Hey." I said. "We're here, come on." Bethany said. I nodded and got out of the car. Johnny was standing there, he looked ready. I was gonna say something to him, but Jason started talking. "So I'm gone, good luck guys, and Nick, don't be afraid." He said. He then backed up the broken car and drove off.

What did he mean by that?" Bethany asked me. "I don't know, but look at this place." I said quickly. It really was nice, there was one big street with different kinds of stores and places to eat, and there were a lot of nice people, but one store stood out to me. It said the walking dead store. I then pointed to it. "That looks like our place." I said. "Yes, finally, let's get this started!" Johnny said super excited.

We then walked down the street, people looked at me kind of weird with my stick, but nothing to bad, but then we walked up the the big store, it was made of brick, just like the rest of the shops and small restaurants. I stepped in, and was disappointed. I half expected to see monsters in here, waiting for us, or a god on a flaming throne, but nope, just two employees. I looked around, but nothing was here, just a lot of stuff from the show. But there were some steel stairs in the corner of the store, it looked open. "Let's go over there." I told Bethany and Johnny quietly. Bethany nodded, but Johnny looked at her weirdly. "Why are we quiet, it's a store, let's just go." Johnny said. He then walked to the steps. I looked at Bethany, she rolled her eyes and followed.

We then walked to the steps and walked down the steps, but nothing was here either. But not gonna lie, it was cool. There was a signed motorcycle, and two jail cells, but then I noticed someone in the room. He was facing the other direction, so I just saw his back, but I could see what he was wearing. He had on a leather jacket and skinny jeans, with really white shoes, he was also pretty tall. But his hair, was long and bright blond, almost white. But then he turned, and I saw that his hair was fully white, and he had piercing light blue eyes like I did, and when he saw me his eyes went wide.

"Baby Nick?" He asked me with his eyes wide, he had a high voice but not to high, but his vice was a little annoying, sounded canadian. "Excuse me?" I asked him. I didn't know what to say, I was feeling mixed feelings. He looked like me, he knew my name, and he called me baby Nick. He then ran up to me, and grabbed me by the shoulders. He then looked down at me. 'It's you." He said. He then pulled me in for a hug. I was so confused, I didn't know what to do. "Umm, hi?" I said confused. He then let go, I turned and looked at Bethany and Johnny were just as confused as I was.

"Look man, I'm sorry, but I have no idea who you are." I told him backing up. I then held my walking stick closely, this guy could attack for all I know. "I forget, the last time you saw me you were but a baby, I am Zethes, your brother." He said.

I then hit him right in the face with my walking stick. There is no way I'm falling for this crap again, he fell to the ground. "Nick!" Bethany said. But Zethes put his hand up. "It's fine, he might be upset of how Khione introduced herself." He said, stumbling off the ground. I was surprised to see he was fine, no bruise or anything. But he brushed himself off and smiled. "Who's Khione?" Johnny asked me. "No one!" I yelled back at him. "Don't want to talk about her, that's good, but for the record you didn't hit me, because then I'd have to kill you." He said, then he gave me a look like he made a joke. He then started laughing at his own joke, no way I was related to this guy, but I had to play along to get answers. So I started to laugh to a bit, I then looked back at Bethany and Nick, and they started to, it was super awkward, Zethes even put his hand on my shoulder for balance He then straightened up and got himself together.

"Well I love that I saw you here, you must come over, we need to talk." He told me. "About what?" I asked him backing up. "Everything!" He said loudly "Okay?" I told him questioning him. "Just follow me." He said walking past me, he then walked past Bethany and johnny, not paying them much attention. But they just looked at me. "Just follow him." I said mad. This guy made me mad for some reason, maybe because I never liked people who acted rich, but I need him, so I followed him.

He walked up the steps and through the store, then held the door open for us. "Thanks." I said awkwardly as I stepped through. Then Bethany and Johnny stepped through. But Zethes looked at Bethany. "So are these two with you?" Zethes asked me. "Umm yeah, this is Bethany and Johnny." I told him. He didn't seem to interested with Johnny though, he was looking at Bethany, with weird eyes. "Hi, you must be a daughter of Aphrodite, correct?" He asked her. Bethany just looked at him. "No, I'm a daughter of Apollo." She told him. Zethes laughed. "Well you certainly shot through my heart." Zethes said with a cheesy voice. Bethany just laughed while gritting her teeth.

"Anyway's, my temporary home is down the road from here, just follow me." He said with a smile. He then crossed the street from where we were, but he stepped in front of car as they were driving, they honked but he didn't seem to care, I hated him. As much as I didn't want to, I knew I had to follow him, so I did, and had to motion the other two to to the same.

So I ran up to catch up with him. "So, you're my brother?" I asked him. "You are, I don't know why your hair is blond though." He told me. "Oh, I did that, it' natural white." I told him. He laughed. "By me you're funny, but I can change that back." He said. He then shot a glowing beam at my hair. I didn't have time to react, it felt like snow hitting my head. But I didn't want to believe it, he didn't just do that. "Better." he said as he smiled, then he kept walking. I turned back, and Bethany just nodded her head. I was gonna kill him. I clenched my fist, I was full of rage, I could feel ice coursing through my veins, I was about to hit him, but right before I did it I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Bethany, she was just shaking her head. I just nodded and kept walking.

But she was right, I knew he was powerful, so I had to cool off a bit, not literally. But I felt so exposed, even when I was in the orphanage I normally had on some kind of hat, but now I felt so exposed. But I just followed him.

We passed a small pizza joint, and behind that was bunch of trees and a small parking lot for the workers, but behind the parking lot was a small house. It looked like a one story home, and was entirely white, the grass was green and it looked kinda nice. But we then followed Zethes to the front door and he opened it up, and motioned me to come in.

I stepped in and put my walking stick up against the wall, I need to look friendly at least. But then I looked at the house , and I had to give it to him, he made this small house look good. The living room had one couch and a chair with blankets on it, there was also a small fireplace and a TV, then the kitchen was connected to the living room, but something caught my attention, a door in the corner of the room. It was secluded, and the door had scratch marks on it, I knew there was something in there. But then Zethes turned and smiled.

"Welcome to me home, I still can't believe I found you, or you found me." He said happily and laughing a bit. "Umm yeah, thanks for having me." I said. It probably sounded like a question, I didn't know what to say. This whole situation was awkward. But I had an idea. "Well, I need to use the restroom right quick, but while I do that you should talk with Bethany." I said as I put both my hands on Bethany's shoulders moving her in front of Zethes. She looked back at me like a demon, but I winked at her, she then got the idea. Zethes then grabbed her hand and held it up. "That would be a great idea, let me show you my collection Bethany, the washroom is down the hall." He said Bethany as he kissed her hand. He then led her to a big case, Bethany looked like she hated life, but she'll live.

But I knew how to sneak, so I walked down the hall and opened the door, I then locked the door from the inside. I then snuck back into the main room. He was talking about something, and Bethany was just nodding, and Johnny was awkwardly standing next to them. I then carefully walked to the door, slowly stepping to feel creeks in the hardwood floor. I slowly opened the handle, and then let the door open just a bit and I slipped in and carefully shut the door. I then pressed my ear against the door, but nothing seemed different, I was good, I then turned and looked in the room.

To my disappointment, it was nothing special, it looked like a crowded office. It was a desk with a computer and a lot of papers on it, and it the size of a closet. I looked around for something, anything, and I looked in the corner of the room and saw an oddly placed rug, I think I found the weird factor. I walked over and took the rug off, and I saw a trap door in the floor, but I touched it, and a feeling of dread came over me. It was dark and looked like it was one hundred years old, with a rope to lift it up, but I knew I needed to look in there. I pulled up and opened the door, I saw a lighted room in the bottom, and a ladder going down. "Here goes nothing." I told myself. I then got in and climbed down.

The walls were made of dirt, like it was dug recently, and it was pretty deep, but as I got deeper the walls looked like they were made of old stone, but then I reached the bottom, and I was in a small room with a lamp, and a door. I walked over and put my hand on the handle, I didn't know what to expect. But I opened the door, and what I saw shocked me.

There were four people against the wall, their arms were in the air being held by iron shackles and they were sitting on the floor. It was three guys and one girl. One guy was big, he had curly brown hair that wasn't in any good style, had a ruff beard and a lot of arm hair, and he was kind of ugly, he had a lot of warts on his face and he looked disabled, with a giant steel brace on his leg. And he had on a jumpsuit that was smeared with grime and oil, it also had the name "Hephaestus" embroidered over the chest pocket, but it was all torn up with tears and hole in it. Next to him was a woman, she had dark hair a gray eyes, a lot like Annabeth's, her outfit was much simpler. She had on a flannel shirt with jeans and hiking boots, but her jeans and shirt had holes in them and was just filthy. The guy next to her looked like a supermodel, he had curly blond hair and bright blue eyes, and a very "punchable" face if (if you catch my meaning), he was just wearing jeans, no shirt, revealing he was totally jacked.

But the guy at the end, he had almost a dark aroma around him, he was wearing a black shirt and black jeans, but something about him. Maybe his hair, he had shoulder length black hair and gleaming black eyes, like black metal, he was also very intimidating, even though he was extremely pale.

But I realized I was staring, these people needed my help. "Do you guys need help?" I asked them. "I wonder, do we need your help." The big guy asked me. "Quiet Hephaestus, yes, please help us get out of here." The girl told me. I walked over and stood in front of her, then squated down to be eye level with her. "Anything." I told her. "Then get my phone, I've probably lost so many streaks in snapchat!" The blond said with tears. "Quiet you dumb idiot, I've probably lost to godly brain cells by being here with you for so damn long!" The big guy yelled at him. But the girl seemed to ignore both of them. "There's a key in the drawer of the desk upstairs, that will unlock these shackles, then I can kill that pig." She said, but that last part sounded like anger, so I just nodded, but I were still confused. "Who are you?" I asked her.

"I am Athena, goddess of wisdom." She said. " I am Hephaestus, god of the forge." The big guy said. "Apollo, god of the sun." The supermodel said. I couldn't believe it, I was talking to actual gods. "Oh." I said, it's all I could say. I then stood up straight and backed up, nearly tripping. "Well I am Nick Snow, and I will help get you out." I said.

"I know who you are." The guy at the end said. "Ignore him." Athena said. But I walked over to him, and stood in front of him. "Who are you?" I asked him, something about him, he was like a black sheep. "I'm Hades, but they don't like me to much." He said motioning to the other three. "Oh shut it, you of all people deserve this, not me!" Apollo yelled at him. "Quiet, you're worse than when we were children!" Athena yelled at Apollo. "Look, I'll get the key, okay?" I asked them. "Please hurry." Athena told me. I nodded and walked to the door. 'Hey Kid." I heard Hades say. I turned and looked at him. "Yeah?" I asked him. "Please let me out, not a lot of people help me, I know you know that feeling, so do me a favor, okay?" He asked me. I didn't know what to say,I knew what it was like for people not to like you, so I just nodded and walked out.

I walked out the small room and to the ladder. I then climbed up, I needed to get them out. Then I reached the office and stood up, but then I stood face to face with Zethes. "Mistakes were made." He said. He then grabbed me by the collar of my windbreaker and lifts me in the air. "Sorry baby brother." He said with a wicked smile.


	11. Bethany IV

Zethes was showing me trophies of Zeus knows what, I was super bored, if Nick didn't have a reason I'd kill him. But while he was talking his head went up, and he looked at a door in the corner of the room. "Hold on, I need to check something." He said as he walked to the door. He then opened it and stepped inside. I then walked back and looked at Johnny. "Have you noticed anything weird?" I asked him. "Not yet, I hope Nick found something." Johnny told me. I nodded. But then I heard something, I turned and it came from the door Zethes went through. Then I saw Nick fly through the wall! He flew out and hit the couch, knocking it over. "Nick!" I said loudly. I then took the bow out of my bag, a friend of mine designed it to where it would stay in my bag, it was a nice thing to have. Then Johnny pulled out Jag, his dagger. I drew and arrow and let it set, it was aiming for the hole Nick came out of. But then Zethes jumped out. "Now, why did you have to do that, now I have to kill you friends and bring you as a hostage, not a guest!" Zethes said. I then let the arrow fly, I was tired of this. But then Zethes shot his hand up quickly and caught the arrow in his hands, he then darted his head towards me. "You're so pretty, maybe you can be my new statue!" He yelled at me. Then his hand started to glow and he shot an ice spike at me.

But then I saw Nick jump over the couch and landed in front of me, then he grew a giant ice spikes on his arms and blocked it, he saved my life. "Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Hades, sound familiar?!" Nick asked him, the spikes were still on his arm, and he sounded pissed off. "Just olympians, nothing important, besides, Athena is gorgeous, and she feels great." He said with a smile. "Pig!" I yelled at him. But before he could tell him something, a dagger went into his arm. "AGH!" Zethes yelled clutching his arm. "Thanks Johnny!" Nick yelled as he ran up to Zethes, he then smacked Zethes with his ice arms, Zethes went through the back wall, I was starting to think that this house had weak walls.

Nick was about to follow him, but then he turned back to me. "Keys in the desk, let them free through the cellar!" He said, he then jumped through the whole in the wall, and Johnny was right behind him.

I was so confused, but I think I got the message. I ran to the door Zethes went in earlier. In there was a cluttered office, but I quickly opened one of the drawers, and laying on the top was a black key, it had flames and a hammer on it. I grabbed it and looked around for a cellar. I didn't know what to expect, but not a small trap door in the ground, but it was there, I opened it and saw a ladder. "For the love." I muttered under my breath.

But I strapped the bow over my shoulder and climbed down. It was a deep hole, and looked like it was dug up recently. But as I was climbing I could hear fighting and comotion from upstairs, so I knew I needed to hurry. I thought I was close enough to the ground so I let go and landed on my feet at the bottom. This place looked weird, it was made of old stone that was molded and smelled horrible. But it was a small room, the size of a closet, the only thing in here was an old style door, like a castle door. I walked over and opened it.

There were four people, laying on the ground with there arms held by iron shackles. They were wearing old tattered clothes, but one guy stook out to me, and I knew who he was. "Dad?!' I asked Apollo. He then looked up at me, his hair was a big mess and he was filthy. He was also just wearing a pair of tattered jeans, this wasn't like him. But when he saw me his blue eyes went wide. "Bethany?" He asked me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him walking up to him. "Look, I'll explain later, please just get me out of here!" He said yelling. I was going to to, but a women interrupted me. "Not your key Apollo." She told me. "Oh shut it Athena, you're just saying that!" He yelled back at her. "No, she's right, it's mine." A big guy said, but I knew who he was by the name on his jumpsuit, Hephaestus. I then walked over to him. "Look, I figured you met him, but Nick is fighting Zethes right now, can you please help me?" I asked Him. he then looked up at me, like a prisoner looks at the warden. "Why not, just get me out!" He yelled at me.

I didn't say anything else, I just unlocked the iron shackles. Hephaestus then slumped to the ground, he was struggling to stand a bit. I grabbed his bigs arm and helped him up, and he stood lumbering above me. He looked like he was as tall as Tyson, he was pretty intimidating, except for the fact one shoulder was lower than the other, so he looked like a hunchback.

Then he stretched out his back with a loud cracking noise, which made me cringe a bit. "Freedom." He said happily. He then grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me up. "Thank you, daughter of a prick!" He said with a smile. My legs were dangling, this was weird. "You're welcome." I said trying to breathe. "Put my daughter down and get Zethes, but don't knock him out, I have some words I want with him." Apollo said. "Yeah I will, just gimme a minute." Hephaestus said as he walked over to Apollo, he then spat in his face. "What was that for?!" Apollo asked him. Hephaestus then smiled. "For the time you called my wife hot in front of me." Hephaestus said with a smile, then he walked to the ladder. He then started to climb.

Let me tell you one thing, Hephaestus is not the god of speed. He was slow climbing, I wanted to scream at him, all I could do was either look up at his big smelly butt, or look straight. "Sorry, I'm a little slow." He told me. "You're good." I said acting nice. "Honey, I'm a god, I know you hate me right now." He told me. I didn't have anything to say, so I kept my mouth shut.

We finally got to the top, he got up and held out his big hand to help me. I have a policy where I don't ask for help unless I really need it, but I'll make an exception for Hephaestus. I took it and he pulled me up with a lot of strength. "Okay, where is he?" He asked me. "Backyard I think." I told him.

Then we walked out of the small office and walked to the hole leading to the backyard, and it looked like a warzone. Johnny kept running up and trying to strike Zethes, but even though he was trying his best Zethes just kept pushing him back, but Zethes and Nick were face to face death fight. Nick had cuts all over his arms, and his windbreaker was being torn up, and his jeans were ripped, blood also grazed his white hair, but Zetehs had taken damage too, with multiple cuts and bruises over his body. Zethes had a celestial bronze sword, but Nick had his own sword. It was made of ice, and the handle was white, like marble, I had no idea where he got it though. But him and Zethes were in an intense sword fight. But then Zethes kicked Nick back on the ground. "Listen here boy, I'm no normal demigod, I've lived thousands of years, I'm practically a god!" Zethes yelled at Nick. Nick just looked at him. "Then why don't you fight like one?" Johnny said from behind. Zethes then turned back and looked at Johnny with rage. Johnny then through his dagger again, and it hit Zethes right in the eye. "ARGH YOU STUPID CHILD!" He yelled as he tore the large dagger out of his eye. He then dropped his sword and put his hand on his eye...or socket. "Johnny move!" Nick yelled at him. But it was to late, Zethes grabbed Johnny and slammed him over his head and Johnny hit the ground back first. Then Zethes stood up and picked up his sword, he then held it above his head with both hands, like he was about to chop Johnny in half.

But then Hephaestus walked up behind Zethes and grabbed one of his arms with his big hands. Zethes turned around looking mad, but when he saw Hephaestus he looked scared. "Hephaestus...I was...just gonna let you out." He said weakly. Johnny then stood up and ran to the house. "I'll get the others!" He said as he ran in there. "Oh Zethes, I've been waiting for this." Hephaestus said with a smile. He then put his hand on Zethes's neck and turned him, then lifted him up, his hand was so big though it looked like he was grabbing a can of soda. But then he reached his fist back, then it started to flame up, and he launched his fist right in Zethes's gut.

Zethes then coughed up blood. Hephaestus then dropped him to the ground. "That felt good." Hephaestus said. Zethes then stood up, he wobbled a bit, but he was clutching his stomach. I almost felt bad for him.

"You!" I heard a woman's voice from behind me. I turned and saw Athena and Apollo standing there, Johnny was behind them. But Athena looked pissed off. I know felt bad for him, kind of. "You're her's now." Hephaestus said backing up. "Umm, hello sweet merciful Athena." Zethes said. Athena eyes looked full of war ad rage, she wasn't happy. "For the past month, I've been kidnapped and voilated every day, and you try to get me to calm down, try to call me merciful!" Athena yelled at him. Instead of responding, he tried to run, but Nick was there, and thrusted his ice sword into Zethes's gut, I saw the body tip come out on the other side. Nicks eyes though, bright blue, like when he uses ice, but I was scared of him right now, he looked terrifying. But he then reached his sword back out of Zethes, and he crumbled to he floor. Athena then marched over to him and stood over him.

"Any last words?" She asked him. But he pulled something out of his pocket, it was shaped like a pill. He crushed it in his hands. "Quebec." He whispered. He then turned into a pile of dust, and drifted into the air.

"What just happened?" Apollo asked walking up to us. "I don't know, he's lucky though." Athena said. She turned and looked at Nick. "Thank you very much Nick Snow, you freed us and we are thankful, but I am sick of tired of these cloths, so I'm going to my realm, by now." She said. She then disappeared. "Yes, I'm tired of talking to humans, bye." Hephaestus said, he then too disappeared. I then looked at Apollo.

"I need to go to, need to get my streaks back." He said. He then looked at me. "Oh, bye Dad." I said. I then walked up and gave him a hug, even though I rarely see him, he was my Dad, and I loved him. He then put his arms around me. "I love you." He whispered in my ear. He then disappeared, he acted like a jerk but he's sweet.

There was a long silence after Apollo left. But then Nick said something. "Where's hades?" Nick asked out loud. Me and Nick then looked at Johnny. "The dude is the god of death, I'm sorry if I didn't feel comfortable with setting him free." Johnny said with his arms in the air. "Well, we should at least talk to him." Nick said, but something was weird about him. His windbreaker that was all torn up, it was fine, and the sword was gone, he now had his walking stick in his hand. His har and jeans though, those weren't to good. His hair was a crimson color, and her jeans were ruined with blood and holes.

Nick, are you okay?" I asked him. He then looked at me. "A bit dizzy, but I'm fine." He said. "Well, as a daughter of Apollo, I have medicine skills, and the nexts place we stay at were fixing that cut on your head. He then nodded at me. "It looks awesome though." Johnny said, but me and Nick both ignored him.

We stepped through the debris and walked to the small office, we stepped in and the trap door was already open, Johnny must have forgot to close it back. "Alright, where's his key?" Nick asked Johnny. "Here." Johnny said pulling something out of his pocket. It was a key, it was solid black, Hades must need a special set of cuffs. Nick grabbed the key and put it in his pocket. E then stepped down and grabbed both sides of the ladder, he then slid down the ladder, he made it look cool, so I did it too. We both landed in front if the door, it was open, and Hades was just sitting there. But where Nick wa standing, a pile of blood was starting to form under him, I really needed to check what he did to his head.

"Agh, Nick, here to set me free I hope." Hades said, I didn't how he knew Nick though. "Yeah." Nick said walking up to him, but something was bothering me, so I stepped in front of him.

"Nick, is it such a bad thing if the god of death is locked up?" I asked him. He then looked at Hades for a moment, then back at me. "I don't know." Nick said. "Think about it, someone else can take care of what he does, maybe we should keep him here for a bit." I told him. But Nick just looked at me.

"Bethany, I was homeless, you don't know the feeling of people crossing the street so they don't walk next to you, or kids pointing at you and parents telling them not to look, you don't what it's like to be alone, even if he's the god of death, he's still a person." Nick told me.

I never thought of the god of death like I am now, the way Nick said it, just a person. I then stepped to the side and let Nick pass. "Sorry, I'm here." I heard Johnny from behind me. But then he saw Nick. "Why's Nick doing that?" He asked out loud. But I turned and gave him the dirty eye, he then shut up.

Then Nick put the key in the hole, and unlocked the shackle. Then all the sudden Hades stood up, he was wearing a black shirt and jeans before, now he was wearing black robes, and he was standing over us. I immediately grabbed my bow over my shoulder and aimed an arrow at Hades. But Hades just smiled at Nick. "Know one has ever said that about me, I owe you a lot Nick, so take these." Hades said, handing Nick a card. Nick looked confused. "What is this?" He asked him. Hades then smiled. "No one would help the god of death, so I owe you a favor, when you want to redeem it just rip that card in two." Hades told me. "Wow, thanks Mr. Hades, means a lot coming from you." Nick said looking at the card. I could see the card from here, it was a joker, but the joker looked like Nick, even a windbreaker an tattered jeans, creepy.

"Look, I hate to break this up, but can you help us get to the next place?" Johnny asked him. Hades then smiled. "Of course, bye." he said. He then snapped his fingers and everything went black.


	12. Johnny IV

Falling, that's what I felt. One moment I was in a small room underground, and now I was falling in the sky. I didn't know where I was, I was just in the sky and I could feel the wind passing my body and going through my hair. I looked over and saw Bethany and Nick, at least I wasn't alone.

But then I came to the realization, I was falling, in the sky, at the ground! "AGHHH!" I yelled once I realized what was actually going on. I really couldn't take this, I was going to die, and I couldn't do anything about it. But then I looked down and saw the ground, it looked like I was falling onto a beach, the water was a light blue and the sand looked great, and it wasn't on a hotel or anything, just a few houses lined the beach, so at least I would die in paradise.

The ground was getting closer, I looked over at Bethany and Nick, my friends, my true friends. "Hey!" I yelled out really loud. They both looked over at me, they looked devastated, Bethany was crying, but Nick just looked sad. But I just put up a thumbs up. They looked at each other, and then flashed me a thumbs up as well. I then closed my eyes, and waited for death. Then I heard a loud thump, and I no longer felt the wind going through my hair, just stillness.

I opened my eyes, I didn't see anything, just something that was like really dark brown. "Hello?" I asked, but it was muffled. I then realized I couldn't move, or not much, I could only wiggle my arms and legs around a bit. I tried to move, I didn't know if this is what death was, but it's freaking boring.

But as I was moving my arm around I broke through something, and felt what felt like air on my arm. I moved my arm around, trying to get out of this, this thing, or water, or whatever I was in.

And as I was moving my arm around, something grabbed my arm, it was cold, but felt like a hand, maybe the hand of Hades, the hand of death. It then pulled me up, and I emerged out of the darkness, into the light.

Into the light of the beach. I looked around, I saw Nick and Bethany standing there, they were covered with sand. But that must mean, we all died. "Guys, were in heaven!" I told them excited. "No moron, we're at the beach." Nick said dropping me. "So, we're not dead?" I asked him sitting on the ground, looking around. "No." He said. He then held out his hand, I took it and he helped me up.

I stood up, the beach looked nice, and know one was around. I looked over at Bethany, but she was just looking around, like she was lost. "You okay?" I asked her.

"I've been here before." She said. I sighed out loud. "You've told me this multiple times, you lived in Ohio all your life until half-blood." I told her. "No Johnny, in a dream, I had it on the train ride." She told me.

She looked around, and then pointed at a house, I couldn't tell what it looked like from behind, but it looked just like any old beach house. "It was there." She said. Nick then started walking to it. "Well, we should head over there then, it's our best shot." He said. Bethany then started to follow him. But I had an idea.

"Hang on guys." I said. They then stopped and turned to me. I then put my bag on the ground. I then slipped off my shoes and socks, I then rolled up my pant legs, and put my socks and shoes in my bags. The sand was hot, and felt good on my feet, I then looked up and smiled. Nick laughed a bit, and Bethany just rolled her eyes.

We then walked to the front of the house. It was an average sized beach house, it was light gray and nothing stood out about it, except for the two cars in the driveway. There was a two-door Jeep Wrangler, but that wasn't the thing that stood out, it was the car next to it. I bright red Lamborghini Huracan, it was gorgeous, it also had black rims and tinted windows, it was amazing.

I just walked up to it, I couldn't help it, I was practically attracted to it, like to magnets. "Come on man." Nick told me. "Hang on." I said.

I then touched the hood of the car, just to feel it. But as I did that the engine revved up, like it was trying to scare me away. I looked back, but Bethany and Nick were already walking up to the door, they must not have heard it. I looked back at the car, and I swear smoke was coming from under it, and the inside of the car looked like it was on fire, so I just ran up to the door, kinda scared.

They were on the porch, it was nice, three stairs leading up to the porch and two pillars where the entrance was, and there were two windows next to the door, and there were two walking chairs on the porch. But, how do we tell the person in the house why we're here. I didn't know what to tell the person once they opened the door, I still didn't know who it was. "Hey, do you even know who's in here?" I asked Bethany. "A woman, she was beautiful, but she was upset about something, I can't remember why though." Bethany said. "Oh, well that's why we're here." Nick said. He then reached up and knocked on the door.

But no one opened the door, instead I heard a bunch of knocks on the door. "What's that?" Bethany whispered to me and Nick. "I don't know." I said. But Nick was listening very closely. "Jack, what is it?" Bethany asked him. "It's Morse Code, I can understand it a bit." Nick said with his ear against the door.

"How do you know Morse Code?" I asked him. "I picked it up in the orphanage, we would use it to sneak things around the place." Nick said with a serious face. "Forget where you learned it, what is she saying?" Bethany asked him. "She's saying the same thing over and over again.' Nick said. "And what is it?" I asked him.

"I-l-o-v-e-y-o-u, I love you." Nick said. There was a silence. "Well, trying saying it back." Bethany told him. Nick nodded, he then knocked the door a bunch, pausing between some and doing others quickly. Then the door swung open quickly, and a woman was standing there.

She had on a white sleeveless blouse and jeans, and Bethany wasn't kidding, she was drop dead gorgeous. She had caramel colored hair that smelled like cinnamon, and her eyes were the shape of almonds, and her skin was smooth, and she looked mid to late 20's, and she had the body of Scarlett Johansson. But here eyes were red and swollen, she had obviously been crying. But when she opened the door she looked relieved, but when she saw us, her face went down, like getting mail, but it's for the wrong person. "Not interested." She said silently. She then shut the door, or more like slammed it.

I quickly put my foot in the doorway, the door then slammed on my foot. "Gods that hurt! Can we please talk!?" I said a little to loudly. She then opened the door and looked at me.

"Festus!" She yelled. I then heard a noise, it sounded like gears turning in a machine. It kept going, just gears turning and other mechanical sounds. "I suggest running." She said, she clearly didn't want to talk with us. But then the sky went black. "What is that?" Bethany asked. "I don't know, stay on your guard, this is just a test." Nick said, obviously trying to sound brave. He then had his walking stick in hand, and Bethany got out her bow. But then, the sky wasn't black, it was a large shadow, then it got smaller, but it was still huge. Then something landed in front of us.

It had golden and bronze scales, and had glowing ruby eyes, and razor sharp drilling teeth, it was a giant robot dragon. 'Dragon!" I yelled. **"RAGHH!"** It yelled as if knowing it was just called out by me. It then opened its mouth, and fire started to come from it, it then tried to burn. But Nick jumped in front of it and used a giant ice like beam and countered the fire it looked awesome, like gods colliding in a movie. Bethany then shot some arrows. I looked back, but the door was shut, and the woman was just staring through the window, tears were coming down here face, but why was she sad.

I tried to think, when she opened the door, she made the face of someone expecting someone, so she must have lost someone, or someone is missing. I then though back to when Jason tried to call his friend Leo, but he didn't answer the phone. I then connected the dots in my mind. I ran to the front porch and to the window where she was.

"Please, listen to me!" I yelled at her. She then turned her head, she was about to walk away. "I can help you find Leo!" I yelled as loud as I could. It was louder then I expected, even when I was screaming in the games back at camp, even the Festus dragon stopped for a bit and looked at me.

The door then slammed open again and she ran out. "Festus stop!" She yelled. She then ran over to me. She put her hands on my shoulders and shook me. "Where is he!?" She asked. I didn't know what to tell her, I didn't say I knew where. "I'm not sue, but I will do everything in my small power to help you find him." I told her trying to look tough. "Festus, return to car mode, were good." She said, still looking at me. The dragon then flew in the air, I then heard mechanical noises, he must have been the lambo, cool ride. "Follow me." She said calmly.

She then let go of me and walked in the house. I looked back at Bethany and Nick, Bethany looked fine, but I nearly laughed when I saw Nick. His hair and face was black, probably smoke, but his hair was also sticking up in the air. But I could laugh at him later, I turned and walked in the door.

She walked to the living room, she then sat on the couch. I then walked over, and I just had to admire the the place. It was decorated with seashells and other sea things, like picture of sea life, and a few pictures of Leo and the woman on the wall, they looked so happy in these pictures. But I walked over and sat next to her, the couch was white, and was on a fur white carpet. I at down, I then looked over and Bethany and the mad scientist, they both sat down too. I then looked at the woman. "My name is Johnny, Johnny Harkens." I said with a smile, I figured I might try to cheer her up. She took my hand and shook it. "My name is Calypso." She said. She was clearly eager to find Leo though, so I shouldn't small talk.

"So, is Leo missing?" I asked her. She slowly nodded, I could see she was holding back tears. "Hey, it' okay, we're here to help." Bethany said. Bethany then sat up and walked over to Calypso, she then grabbed her hand, and held it tightly. Calypso looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. "So, when did you see him last?" Nick asked her. "Three months ago, I'm worried the worst has happened." She said, a single tear went down her face. "Hey, it's okay, we'll find him." I told her. She smiled a bit. 'Thank you, but who are you all, like, demigods, roman soldiers, or what?" She asked me.

I then told her about our quest, and how we met Jason and Piper, and how we had a fight with Zethes, and how Hades sent us here. "So, the gods were chained up?" She asked me. I nodded. She then put her hands to her chins. "Come to think of it, there have been no waves lately, or thunderstorms, and that's usually common here in California.' She said. "California?!" Nick asked her with wide eyes. She nodded. "Jeez, we're not in Kansas anymore." I said with a laugh. "Well, did anything weird happen before he, went missing." Bethany said ignoring me, but she said missing slowly and carefully.

"Well, about six months ago a factory was built near me and Leo's store, and it gave me a bad vibe, so I stayed away from, but Leo was always trying to tell me how there's nothing in there, and even if there was he would protect me, and make sure nothing happens to me, because I was his sunshine." Calypso said, but she was starting to tear up, they clearly had a close relationship.

"Well, we'll check out that factory, come on guys." I said standing up. But as I did, I noticed the sun, it was setting. "Wait, what time is it?" I asked her. Calypso looked at a clock on the wall that I didn't notice. "6:30." She said. "Jeez, it was like morning when we left Senoia." Nick said. But Calypso stood up. "You guys can just sleep here for the night, the couch is a pull out and blankets are in the closet over there, I need to go upstairs, sorry." She said. She then turned around and walked to the other room, it was obvious she didn't want to talk about Leo anymore.

"I feel bad for her." Bethany said. "Yeah, she clearly loves him, so we need to find him." I said taking the cushions off the couch. "But what's with you, you seem so, like determined to help Calypso." Nick told me.

He was right, I didn't even realize I was doing it. "I don't know, I just want to find Leo, I guess." I said. "Well, it's weird to see you so brave, but don't stay like that forever." Bethany said laughing. She then pulled out the pullout. Sheets were already on it, it had a baby blue comforter with white pillows. But before I could say anything Bethany fell on the bed. "Dibs." She said with her head buried in the pillow.

I looked around and saw a chair, I walked over and sat in there, I then reached to the side and pulled the lever, and my legs shot in the air, it felt good. I then noticed Nick getting some of the couch cushions, he laid them on the floor and laid down, I would have given him the chair, but it was to comfortable. I didn't even want a blanket, I just leaned back and closed my eyes.

I slowly opened my eyes, I was still in the living room, but it was quiet, and much darker, expect for a light coming from the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes, I didn't see anyone, and my mouth felt kinda dry, so I thought I might get some water. I pushed the chair down with my legs and stood up. I stretched my back, I then walked over to the kitchen.

There was a small bar separating the kitchen and living room, it looked really nice. The kitchen was a little small, but it looked nice and cozy. I stepped in, and I instantly felt the coldness of the tile on my bare feet, but it didn't bother me. I looked around, but nothing really stood out, but I really liked this kitchen, I'm gonna have to save this in my personal memory. But I noticed a small hallway leading to another room, must go to the backyard I though.

But as I was looking at the hallway, Calypso came from around the corner. She was wearing a blue long t-shirt that it went down to above her knees, and one side was on her arm, showing her shoulder. It as a simple shirt, but her hair was a mess, she probably just woke up. It was a little awkward though, we were just looking at each other.

"Sorry, I was just getting some water." I said backing up. "No you're good, I'll get it for you." She said. "Oh, sweet, thanks." I said. I then walked to the bar, I then grabbed a chair and sat down, leaning on my elbows. "So, who's your godly parent." She asked me reaching up for a cup. "Oh, I'm a son of Hermes." I said proudly. She just chuckled. "You act like him." She said. "What's that supposed to mean, something against the mailman?" I asked her with a goofy smile. She laughed at me a bit, it was nice to see her smiling. "Well, thousands of years ago he would always visit me on my island, he was funny and sweet, and always tried to make me laugh." She said, but her voice sounded a little sad, something bothered me.

"Thousands of years?" I asked her. She nodded. That was just mind blowing to me. "How, you look so young!?" I asked her alarmed. She walked over and started filling the cup with water. "That's nice of you to say, but many years ago I was cursed to stay on a tropical island." She told me. She then walked over and handed me the cup of water. "Well, that's not to bad, a tropical island, like Hawaii?' I asked her.

I then took a sip of my water, my throat didn't feel dry anymore, at least that's good. She then walked up and leaned on her elbows on the counter in front of me. "Not so much, the problem was that I was alone." She told me. "Oh, that sucks." I told her. Honestly, my biggest fear is being alone, I don't tell anyone, but I could relate to it, well kinda.

"But, the gods punished me, harshly." She told me. She looked nervous talking about it, I didn't want to push her, but I needed to know. "How so?" I asked. "Well, sometimes a strong and tall man would come to my island, and since there the first person I would see in a long, I can't help but fall in love with them, but every time the always left, leaving me heartbroken, and alone." She told me.

Okay, I couldn't relate to this. "So, loving someone, but they leave, and you just have to wait and hope for the next person?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, who all came to the island?" I asked her. I felt like that was to much, but I feel like she met some famous people. She then used her fingers count something in her head. She then looked at me. "Odysseus, Sir Francis Drake, and...Percy Jackson." She said, but she said Percy softly.

I didn't expect her to say his name, of all people. "Percy, he went to your island?" I asked her. "Yep, about 13 years ago he washed up on Ogygia, but he loved Annabeth, so he left me as well." She said. "And he just left, not trying to save you?" I asked her. She chuckled under her breath. "You'd think a strong hero like Percy would save me, but no." She said.

"And Leo?" I asked her. "You don't stop, do you?" She asked me with a smile. "Oh, sorry, am I asking to much?" I asked putting my hands up. "No, it's fine, so you want to know how me and Leo met?" She asked me. "Sure." I replied.

She leaned forward. "So, I was eating lunch on the beach, just me at my dining table, but I saw something in the sky. Then it came crashing down and hit my dining table. After the sand cleared, all that was there was a crater, and in the middle was a small boy. At first I was mad, yelling at the gods for sending me a small boy, he then told me:Calm down sunshine. Then for the next few weeks, he was working on something, trying to get him off the island. I hated him at first, he destroyed my dining table, but he was funny, so it was fun to listen to him, he even got me wearing jeans, and I even helped him, and I grew attached to him, he was always making jokes and flirting, but then he finished the raft he was making, and right before he left, I kissed him, but then he drifted off." Calypso said. "And did he come back?" I asked her. "Well, I've learned that no man ever comes back to Ogygia, but he promised he would come back, he swore it on the River Styx." She told me. I just leaned forward, I wanted to hear how it ends, especially if he swore it on the River Styx. "And, well I looked and saw a dragon approaching my island, and Leo was on the dragon, smiling like an idiot, and then he let me escape my island, we then flew around for a few years, but we ended up here and stated our own shop." She told me.

"A shop?" I asked her. "Yep, Leo and Calypso's Garage, we fix anything mechanical and sell fruits and vegetables, but we've been closed recently, and won't open until Leo comes back." She said, a little sad.

But I realized why she and Leo are so close, he rescued her, and allowed her freedom, I needed to get him back. "Well, I promise I'll get him back, no matter what, even if I look like a confused midget." I told her proudly. She then chuckled. "Thanks Johnny, but to be honest, you're a lot like Leo, I haven't laughed in a long time." She told me. "Must be my charming personality." I said with a dorky smile, just to make her laugh. And she did. "Yeah, you want to know something funny about him?" She asked me with a smile. "Sure, I'm not even tired anymore." I told her. We then stayed up the rest of the night, exchanging funny stories, I was just glad she was cheering up.


	13. Nick V

I was so tired, and sore, it was probably the fight with my older brother, Zethes. And also the fact that I was sleeping on the ground, it felt like I was homeless again. I slowly sat up, it was day time, the sun was shining to the living room, it reflected off the floor and made the room that much prettier, everything seemed so alive. I looked up at the chair, but Johnny wasn't there. I then stood, and heard a bit of laughing from the kitchen area.

"And Nick said bring it, and I'm like this kid is nuts." Johnny said. And Calypso was listening to him, just laughing a bit. She was wearing pajamas, and a smile. "Umm, good morning?" I asked looking at them. Johnny turned and smiled. "Morning Nick." Johnny said. Calypso then looked at the clock on the stove. "Alright, well you guys should start getting ready, I know I need to to, and thank you Johnny, I haven't laughed in a long time." She told Johnny, she then sat up and walked to the other room.

"So, you cheered her up?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded. I then looked back at the couch. "Well, I'm going to wake up the sun." I said. Johnny laughed a bit. I then walked up to the couch.

Bethany was laying on her stomach, peacefully sleeping. I walked over and shook her a bit. "Hm." She said tired. "You gotta get up." I told her. She then swatted me away weakly with her hand. "Come on Bethany, you need to get up." I told her. "No...I'm good." She said. I then tapped her back, and sent a small harmless ice beam down her back. She arched her back and sat up. "Okay, I'm up!" She said suddenly awake. "Sweet." I said. I then got my bag and walked down the hall from the kitchen, I were hoping that is where the bathroom was.

I was right, there was a small bathroom. I stepped in and pulled out my toothbrush and toothpaste. I then started to brush my teeth, but looking at my reflection, I got annoyed. My hair, white as snow, and I didn't have my beanie. I cursed Zethes under my breath. If not for him I would have great light brown hair, or blonde, either one is better then white. I finished my teeth, I then leaned over and shut the door, and rolled up the sleeve of my windbreaker.

I looked at the tattoo, it was still there. I want it to go away, but it's taunting me. Like it's saying: " _Ha, you want to be normal, nice try kid, you're stuck with me!"_ It bugged me, I really liked my walking stick, but it's not the best weapon so to speak. But it was my weapon, not the sword. I then drew the sword out, I held it in my hands. I had an idea. I looked up and saw a small window. I stepped up on the tub and opened it. I then reached up and grabbed edge of the window ledge, I then pulled myself up and was sitting on it, one leg outside one inside. I threw the sword out the window I then used an ice breeze and shot to the ocean, I saw it splash and smiled.

I then hopped down and rolled my sleeve back down and put my stuff in my bag, I then stepped out and walked to the kitchen, smiling. Bethany and Johnny looked ready to go, but they didn't have there bags, just weapons, guess we'll be coming back, so I dropped my bag and walked over to where I was sleeping,where I laid my walking stick, I reached down picked it up and I was ready to go. But as I did that I had a mini heart attack, the tattoo was back. " _Miss me, I'm still here!"_ I swear to god, I hate my life. I looked up, but didn't see Calypso.

"Where's Calypso?" I asked walking up to them. "She's getting ready." Johnny told me. But right as he said that I heard Calypso walking down. I looked over, and she looked good. She had on a shirt the said C and L it fancy writing, and she had something in her hands. "You guys ready?" She asked. We nodded. She then handed me something. "This should help with your, problem." She said. It was a baseball hat, it had the same logo as on her shirt, C and L, I'm guessing Calypso and Leo.

"Thank you very much." I told her taking it, I needed a hat of some kind, this was perfect.I pulled my hair up with one hand, and put the hat on with the other, it felt good, not tight like a beanie, I liked it. "Looks good Jack." Bethany told me. I smiled. "Alright, well I'll drive you guys to the factory, it's just a five minute drive." Calypso told us. She walked out, and we followed her.

We all followed her, she walked up to the jeep, it suited her. It was two door and had a big lift and black wheels, I liked it. Me and bethany walked around and opened the passenger door. I let the seat down and climbed in the back, it was a little hard with walking stick, but I got there. Bethany then climbed in behind me. We then put the seat back and Johnny got the front seat. Calypso then turned on the car, and pulled out of the driveway.

It really wasn't a long drive at all, it was nice to see the area, people walking around, buying things or just hanging out with friends in the sun, a normal life. I wondered what it was like to be normal, not to live on the streets or at a hidden magical camp.

But then we pulled up to a factory, and it did give off bad vibes. It was huge, with three pipes sticking out of the top, releasing smoke. It was made of brown stone, and it looked old even though it was made months ago, I even saw come moss growing on the side of the building. The entire building was shaped like an L. The entrance was one of those small security gate buildings, just big enough for a person in a chair, and after that was a walkway to the entrance to the building, and an entrance to the parking lot. The parking lot had a lot of cars, but most of them were white, and new. Only a few looked old.

"Here you are, I really don't like this place, so I'm going back home, and if you find Leo, please bring him back." Calypso said with a tear. "I promise we'll find him." Johnny told her. He then stepped out and put the seat down, letting us out. Calypso the waved, and drove off.

We watched as she drove off, she left rather quickly, but I didn't blame her, if the love of my life might be trapped in this creepy building, Id want to cry. "So how are we going to get in there?" Bethany asked us. "Again, I'm new to this, how am I supposed to know." I told her. She gave me a sarcastic look. But Johnny pointed to a building nearby. It said Thrift Store. "What are you planning?" Bethany asked him. He looked at us and smiled, like a madman. "I'll be right back." He said. He then ran across the street avoiding cars and jumping over the curb and to the thrift store, leaving me and Bethany, really confused.

After twenty minutes of me and Bethany playing twenty question back and forward, we saw the store door open, and I couldn't believe what I saw. It was Johnny, but he was wearing a tan suit, with matching pants. He had a white button up underneath and a green tie, and black sunglasses, he evn slicked his hair back. He looked like a businessman.

"What in the world." Bethany said as he crossed the street. He was even walking differently, like he was hot stuff. He then walked up to us. "How do I look?" He asked us. "I don't even know anymore." Bethany said. "Trust me, I got this." Johnny said. He then walked up to the gate guard, standing straight and puffing his chest out. "No no no Johnny." Bethany hissed at him. But he didn't listen, he just walked up to it, and we reluctantly followed him.

He walked up to the glass and leaned on his elbow, he then knocked. The window opened and I nearly jumped out of my skin. He was a cyclops, but not friendly like Tyson, this guy looked mean. He had a bald head and a hazel eye, and was wearing a white jumpsuit., and his face was covered with muck and grime. But his giant eye started at us all, it was freaky, like a giant squid. 'What?" He said agitated. Johnny then leaned forward and smiled.

"Hello my cycloptic friend, I am here as a representative from Mount Olympus, and I was told to come to this fine establishment and make sure everything is in check." Johnny told him in a British accent. His eyes, I mean eye went wide. "Did mistress send you?" He asked anxiously. Johnny paused for a moment. "Umm, yeah, of course she did." Johnny told him. "Oh yes sir, I am Brick, the gatekeeper, I will get you a card to show you're friendly, and these two?" Brick asked Johnny. Johnny looked back at us, he then snorted. He leaned forward. "They're just interns, not smart like you and me." Johnny whispered to him, but loud enough for us to hear Brick nodded and looked at us, he then reached back in his small office and gave Johnny three clip on cards.

Johnny clipped one to his jacket, then gave the other two to us. The gate then opened and we walked through.

"I can't believe that worked." Bethany said with wide eyes. Nick then turned and put his hands out to the side next to his waist, and did jazz hands. He then snapped his fingers and turned around and walked up to the door. Whatever god is the god of dance, they're probably filing a complaint against Hermes.

He opened it and a wave of heat hit me. It was like 90 in this place, to hot. "First order of business, air conditioning." Johnny said. But then I heard music from inside, familiar, but old. "Is that...Michael Jackson?" I asked out loud.

" _Annie are you okay, are you okay Annie?"_ The speaker said from inside the building. "Oh my word." Bethany said. We stepped in, and the place was practically hollow, except for the stair and machines in the building. I looked over and saw a big cyclops walking up to us, his jumpsuit was blue, so he must be in charge because the rest were wearing white. His eye was brown, and he was tan, but that was the only good quality about him. He had shaggy black hair that was greasier then pizza, and he had a rough chin beard. He had the body and height of the Big Show. He also had on a tool belt, it looked like it barely fit around his fat waste, but it had a weird glow to it, it looked cool to be honest, be a few sizes to small. "Hello, you're the guy from Olympus, right?" He asked him, he had a heavy Irish accent, like Shrek and William Wallace had a kid, and all the weird implications from that. "Yes, I am Johnny Harkens, it's a pleasure." Johnny said holding out his hand. "Well, I'm Brock, nice to meet you Mr. Harkens." He said. Brock then took his hand, but by the look of Johnny's hand said he had a tight grip, Johnny even made look of pain. Then they let go.

"So, what are you guys doing here, and who do you have captive currently?" Johnny asked him. Brock arched his eyebrow. "Why don't you know this?" Brock asked him. Johnny looked around. "Well, I do, but to make sure you guys aren't traitors to mistress, I have to make sure you know what you're talking about." Johnny told him. Sweat was dripping from his forehead, probably from the heat and he was probably super nervous.

"Well, were building the "God Robot" for Khino." Brock said. I nearly puked, of course she had something to do with this, and the God Robot, this day just keeps getting better and better. "Right, the "God Robots", and where are the gods?" Johnny asked him. "Follow me." Brock said, so we followed.

It was clear why he was in charge, he was smart, I could tell by his voice. It was deep, but perceptive, he reminded me of the way Hannibal Lecter talked, commanding and intelligent. He walked to some of those metal stairs you see in factories, we walked up them and walked around the perimeter of the building, it was terrifying to walk around. Cyclops were working, fire and lava in the giant metal bowl looking things, and my sister was behind it all, I even saw some cyclops dancing to the Micheal Jackson music.

"So, what's with the music?" I asked Brock. He laughed a bit. "Well, we found a bunch of his CD's, and the boys like it, get them working, and occasionally dancing." Brock told me. Honestly, that's all I wanted to know, so I dropped it there.

But we walked up to one of those offices overlooking the factory, where the boss usually was, but I guessed they were using it as a prison. The door had bars over it's window. We walked up to the door and looked through. It looked the same as the cell under Zethes' house, except for the fact that the four people were sitting in chairs chained up, not shackled to the wall.

I got a good look at them. It was the same, three guys and one girl, expect these guys had there clothes in one piece, besides all the dirt. The guy on the far right had on a leopard print shirt with jeans, his hair was brown and messy and had a rough beard, he looked bored, not even angry. The guy next to him had on a UPS uniform, he was messing the hat but everything else matched, he didn't have a bead like most gods, and he was pretty skinny, and he had the eyes of a troublemaker, and he had short blond hair. The girl next to him, I think my heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful. She had blonde hair that was let down in the front, and her eyes were blue, and she was wearing a white shirt and a skirt. And the guy next to her, right when I looked at him he looked up at me. His sea green eyes pierced me, and his hair was jet black, with a matching beard. And he looked like a fisherman, with a green Hawaii shirt and khakis, he also had a hat that said " _Neptune's Lucky Fishing Day."_

" _Billie Jean, not my love!"_ The loud speaker said as I was thinking, which wasn't helping me trying to look professional. I feel like I could guess who some of these gods were, the UPS guy had to be Hermes the god of delivery and thieves, Johnny's dad, and the girl had to be Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, I saw were Lacy got her looks from. The guy in the leopard print shirt, I had no idea. But, I saw Percy in the fisherman, so it must be Poseidon, the god of the seas. I looked back at Bethany and Johnny, but there mouths were open, staring at the guy I didn't know. "Mr. D." Bethany said under her breath.

I shuddered looking at the gods, but I knew who I needed to get them out now. "Traitor!" I heard Poseidon yell. Brock just hit the door. "Quiet, Khione paid more, sorry boss." He said. "You will pay for what you did to the others, if they're not alive I will make sure you never come out of Tartus!" He yelled back. Brock chuckled and stepped back. I looked at Bethany, but she looked just as confused.

"And where is this God Robot?" Johnny asked him looking away. "Agh, my prized position, follow me." Brock said. But as we were walking, the light in the building started to flicker, a few went out. A few cyclops from down below yelled curses and complaints, even the music slowed down a bit. Brock then reached into one of the pockets of his tool belt and pulled something out.

It was a small rod, but it should not have fit in that small pocket. Brock saw me looking at it, he smiled. "Picked this up a few months ago, anything I need is in these pockets, all I need to do is think about it." He said smiling. "Well, what's wrong with the lights?" Johnny asked him changing the topic. "It's our power source, apparently it bugged Khione years ago, so she's pleased that we have it." Brock told me. "What is it?" Bethany asked him. "Well follow me, I'll show ya." He said.

We walked around a corner, I think I saw the power source, but something was right next to it. It looked eight feet tall, and made of metal. Tubes lined the whole machine, and it's eyes were glowing red, and it had a black chess piece and it's arms were silver metal. It was a robot, except it's hands weren't hands, one was a giant hammer, the other was a flamethrower. And it face, it had a helmet which covered all of its face, except it's glowing red eyes. All three of us stopped.

"Yep, there it is, the eighth one since we started this factory." Brock said. Eight, that was a low number, but this thing just looked evil. "It's...well it's impressive." Johnny said stuttering. I then noticed a girder above it, and in front of it was one of those bowl things in a factory that would poor the lava stuff in machines, I'm sorry that I was homeless, I don't know these terms. But in front of us, like directly in front of us was a furnace, I think, it looked like one. It had a metal grate like one, but it was bigger, and the top of the furnace had a pipe going to the ceiling, and a bunch of tubes coming out of it that were connected to machines around the building. Brock then walked up to it. "It's gonna get hot in here, so be ready." He said laughing. He then opened the grate.

He wasn't kidding, a burst of heat came out, it knocked my hat off. I scrambled to grab it, I then put in back on my head quickly. Bethany and Johnny didn't seem to notice, but Brock was looking right at me. But then I looked inside the furnace. It was a man, his clothes looked burned and tore, and he was just lying down on the metal. "Wake up!" Brock yelled at him. The man then slowly stood up, and I nearly puked. It was Leo, he had dark curly hair and a goatee, but he a rough unshaven neck beard and his hair was long in the back.

"Leo." Johnny muttered under his breath. But then Leo just collapsed, he looked exhausted. 'Alright, fine then." Brock said/ Brock then took the long stick he had before and extended it, the tip then stuck out the top, it was an extended cattle prong. "Ugh oh." I said silently. Brock then put the stick in the furnace and stuck it right in Leo's side. "AGH!" He yelled. Then his whole body grew into a massive fire, and the building lit up again.

Cyclops around the building started to cheer. " _No one wants to be defeated!"_ The intercom said as if it was celebrating to. "That's an...incredible power source." Johnny said backing up. "Yeah, and there's one more thing I'd like to show ya." He said. He then turned and walked up some stairs.

They led to the girders above the lava, so we followed him. But I kept turning and looking at the furnace Leo was in, and thinking how we could save him and the gods. But I ignored it for now, after he showed us this I was gonna knock him off the side of the railing, and we would run to get Leo and take care of the cyclops, we've got this.

Then there was walkway that went directly over the machine that had the lava, or burnt metal, I still had no idea. We walked to the edge. Brock then smiled. "So, is that everything?" Johnny asked Brock. "Just one more thing." Brock said looking away from us. He then threw his hand back and smacked me in the side of the head, it hurt like crap, but I saw of my hair fall in my face, he knocked off my hat.

"Ha, I knew it!" Brock said. A few other cyclops were gathering around, laughing and pointing at me. "What's going on, that's my colleague." Johnny said still trying to sound professional. "She said if a boy with white hair comes around here and we kill him, she'd pay us six times a much!" He yelled. "Uh oh." I said.

But he lunged forward and put his big hand around my neck. He then stood up and lifted me in the air, and I was just grabbing his hand, trying to get him off, and I couldn't focus to make any ice, so I was just dangling in the air, my legs were dangling and moving. But on his hand, my necklace was resting on his hand, I forgot about it, but he looked at it. He then swung me over the fire pit thing. "And after she pays us, I could sell this for seven times a smuch!" He yelled. The cyclops down below cheered. With his other hand he grabbed my necklace and ripped it off.

But as he did that, something happened. My vision was going blurry, and not from him strangling me to death. But before I could think about it, he let go, and I felt myself falling. "Jack!" I heard Bethany yell.

I couldn't die here, not in this factory full of monsters, and not to the tune of beat it! But as I was falling, it was getting hotter, but I focused as much as I could, and then my whole body seemed to get bigger, things felt like slow motion, then, everything burned.


	14. Bethany V

I stood there, shocked. Nick just fell in, I went the edge, and my hand was stretched out. "Jack." I muttered again. He was gone, just like that. I then looked back at Brock. He was just laughing with his hands on his fat stomach. "We're getting paid fellas!" He yelled. "You monster!" I yelled. He then looked offended. "Now that's no way to talk, we prefer cyclops!" He yelled. He then laughed, and every other cyclops in the building did as well.

"Alright, now were gonna mix in the ice boy with the robot, put it in!" Brock yelled. Then the torso of the robot opened, and his head went back, revealing an empty torso, it was directly underneath the lava bucket, I then saw what was happening. Then the giant bucket started to lean forward, and lava started pouring out of it, into the torso of the robot, and I felt some tears go down my face.

I only knew Nick for a few days now, maybe a week, but he was one of my best friends, and he is now dead. I looked back at Johnny, and he had the same look I did. But as the bucket wa s leaning, I heard something, like a rock hitting metal. Me, Johnny, and Brock quickly ran over to the edge and looked down. The robot wa struggling to stand, there was a circular rock in the torso. 'What's that!" Brock screamed. Then the robot's legs broke, and it crumbled to the ground, spilling lava. A few cyclops didn't move quick enough, and turned to dust once they hit the lava. And the rock was just sitting there.

"I want someone to fix the robot, and get that rock out of here, and I want it done yesterday!" He yelled out loud. But I saw Johnny backing up. He then opened his jacket, and his dagger was inside of it. He drew and slowly approached Brock. He looked at me, and I nodded.

"AGH!" I heard a deep voice yell, it came from down below. It sounded like someone screaming through a megaphone, and then played out of a TV. "What's going on?" Brock asked silently. Then I heard pounding, like to rocks colliding multiple times. Something came bursting out of the rock, a hand, and the fist was clenched, and it looked like brass knuckles on it's fist, but solid ice, and spikes on the sides.

It was blue, light blue, and its arm was bleeding from the rock, but whatever it was, it probably didn't care. Then another fist came out, then the rock ripped open, to reveal a monster. It looked maybe seven feet tall, and had huge muscles. It looked like a smurf turned into the hulk, it even had the matching pants, no shirt, just a pair of ripped pants. And it's hair, it went down to it's shoulders and was pure white, with bits of snowflakes in it's hair, and there was a sword tattoo on it's arm. 'What is that!?" Brock asked backing up. Then it looked up at us. He had light blue eyes, almost glowing, but it's nose, it's jawline, and the eyes, It looked familiar.

"Attack it, whatever it is we need to kill it!" Brock yelled. But the monster lunged forward and grabbed a cyclops and starting beating it until it turned to dust, it then jumped another one, it was moving like Doomsday, from DC. But as it was fighting, I realized why it looked familiar. "Jack?" I asked silently. But Brock didn't hear me, he was staring at who I assumed was Nick.

"Now's my chance!" Johnny said. He then lunged and thrusted his dagger into the back of Brock. "AGHH!" Brock yelled looking up. He then turned into a pile of dust, all that was left was Nick's necklace and the tool belt. A cyclops went flying in the air in front of me and hit the ceiling, and he turned into dust. "So that's Nick?!" Johnny asked me. "What else could it be!" I yelled back at him. "I don't know, but last I checked Nick didn't take steroids!" Johnny yelled at me. I then pulled my bow out of its case which I kept hidden in my bag. "Well let's help him!" I said. I then ran and jumped over the railing, bow in one hand, arrow in the other. I landed on a cyclops and put the arrow in him, killing him.

I looked around, cyclops were circling around. "Alright Nick, you and me!" I screamed. But Nick just looked over at me. "What's wrong?" I asked him. His eyes started at me, they were full of rage. He then grabbed my leg and picked me up. "Nick, let me go!" I yelled at him. But then he threw me like a baseball. I went flying in the air, why did he attack me? But I could think about that later, I saw I was approaching a girder, I reached out and grabbed it, I then swung myself over the rail.

I looked up and saw Johnny standing in the same place he was before, but he had Nick's necklace and the tool belt with him. He then ran over to me. I'm not gonna lie, to see Johnny running to me in a tan suit, it looked like an action movie, him jumping over railings and stabbing cyclops, but I ran to him to.

Once we reached we just looked at eachother, not sure what to say. "What's wrong with Nick?!" He asked me. I looked down at him, he was slinging around a cyclops and punching the another with his ice knuckles. "I don't know, but he isn't in control of himself." I told Johnny. "Fine, but while the cyclops are distracted, let's go get Leo." Johnny told me. I nodded, and we ran to the furnace he was in.

We ran to it, ignoring Nick killing and cyclops and throwing another one behind us. We were then right in front of it. "Okay, let's try this." Johnny said. He then reached out and opened the grate. And there was Leo, still making fire. "Hey, come on, we're here to help!" Johnny yelled. Leo then looked over. "Brock is dead!" I yelled. Leo nodded, he then fell to the ground, probably from exhaustion. "No, let's go!" Johnny yelled at him. He stepped in, but then stepped out. "Jeez that's hot!" Johnny said blowing his hand.

But Leo wasn't moving, just laying on the ground. "Please, do it for Calypso !" I yelled at him. He then looked up at me. He then tried to stand, he stumbled a bit, but he started walking to the exit. Me and Johnny backed up as he was walking to us. He put his hand out, Johnny then grabbed it and pulled him out, Leo then fell forward, catching himself on the railing. "Okay, I'm good, I'm A okay." He said breathing heavily. He then turned and looked at us, ignoring the giant monster down below. "So, who are you guys?" He asked us, he looked like he was trying not to pass out. We then told him the story, but the short version, and he seemed to understand.

"Okay, well first things is first, give me that tool belt." Leo said. He the held out his hand. Johnny didn't hesitate, he immediately gave Leo the tool belt. Leo the reached into onto of the pockets, he then pulled out two things, it looked like a pair of shorts and a shirt. "Okay, turn please." He said. "Okay?" I said. I then turned around.

And then like ten seconds later he said something. "Okay, we're good." I turned and he was wearing a fresh pair of gym shirts and a red t-shirt, and the tool belt was around his waist. He then reached into the pocket, and pulled out a red bull. He opened it and chugged it in two seconds, impressive really. He then threw it on the ground and he had crazy eyes. "Okay, now that that is taken care of, we need to get Nick under control." Leo told us. I wanted to tell him: Well thanks Sherlock, but I didn't. 'Well, we have no idea why he's doing that, or what he is anymore." I said worried. Well, is there anything weird about him?" Leo asked us. I looked at Nick, he looked the same, except for the fat that was like a foot taller and nothing like his old self, but I did see something, he didn't have on his necklace. "Hey Johnny, doesn't Nick's necklace glow when he uses his ice powers?" I asked him. "Yeah, why do yo-" But he stopped talking once he said that. He then looked at me with wide eyes. "The necklace!" We both said at the same time.

"What?" Leo asked us. "We need to get the necklace on him!" I told Leo. "Okay, I think, I think I got it, I'll distract it, you guys sneak up behind it. He then pulled out a light two handed hammer out of his tool belt. He then jumped over the railing. I wondered how the red bull revived him, but he's helping us, so I wasn't complaining. "Come on!" I said. Me and Johnny then ran around the girder and ran down the stairs, we then turned and ran to where Nick was.

Nick was in the middle of killing cyclops, and it was a war-zone. The dust of monsters littered the floor and his hair, but there was also Leo running around shooting fire at him, something Calypso didn't mention about him, but Johnny didn't look confused, so they both didn't tell me, great.

But I had one shot at this. "He can't turn around at me, help me out with that." I told Johnny. He didn't ask question, he just ran to Nick, avoiding the fire and cyclops. He then slid between Nick's legs, and stabbed Nick in the foot with his dagger. "AGH!" Nick howled in pain. He was about to grab Johnny, but a fireball hit Nick before he could.

I then ran full speed at him. I dropped my bow and jumped at Nick. I landed right behind his head and I then wrapped my arms around his neck. His skin was so cold though, it felt so cold it was burning. But Nick was flipping out, trying to grab me, slamming into the nearest wall, but it didn't knock me off. I then put the necklace around his neck, I was about to fasten it, but i was a little small. But I pulled the leather strap hard, and it clipped together. Nick then stopped moving. I then jumped off of him, but my hands were steaming from the cold, causing some ice burns.

But Nick got smaller, grew back to his normal height, and he lost the muscles, his hair grew back to it's normal length, and he fell on the floor. He was curled up into a ball, shivering. All he had were his ripped pants, but that was it. And he was so skinny, borderline anorexic, I've never see him without his shirt, but he was the definition of someone starving. He looked like Christian Bale in The Machinist.

"Nick?" I asked him. He just laid there, shivering. "Okay, look, there like a bunch of cyclops that want us dead, so let's run to the office where the gods are, now!" Leo told me. "Okay, Johnny, get Nick." I told Johnny. He nodded. He then tried to help Nick up, but had trouble, so Leo put one arm over his shoulder, and the other over Johnny's shoulder.

I ran over and picked up my bow, I then drew an arrow. We then walked back to the stairs, the cyclops were pouring through the entrance, somebody must have alerted them, and a lot of them had stains on there white jumpsuits, so they were on a lunch break. So we needed to hurry. We got to the stairs. But I looked back and Nick was slowly making it up the stairs on his own.

But I got to the top of the stairs, the other three were right behind me. I then ran to the office room, I grabbed the handle, but was locked. "It's locked!" I said frantically. I could cyclops coming through the door of the factory, yelling curses at us, they looked confused though, probably from not having Brock to guide them around.

Leo stepped in front of me and pulled out a key from the tool belt. "That's not gonna work." Johnny told him. I looked back and Nick was resting on Johnny's shoulders, he wasn't looking to good. But Leo ignored him and put the key in the lock, and twisted. And the door opened.

"What?!" Johnny asked looking at the door. "Go now, ask questions later my man." Leo said. We then rushed in the door, I then slammed the door shut and locked the door back. Johnny set Nick down leaning against a wall. He was still shivering. "Okay, so where are the keys for them?" I asked Leo. "We have names." Hermes said, I could tell it was him, not every god has a UPS uniform on. "Sorry dad." Johnny muttered under his breath bitterally. "Look, the keys are here." Leo said. He then pulled out a key-ring from the tool belt, I was wondering how that even worked.

But as he was waking up to the gods I head pounding from the door. Leo then dropped the keys and ran to the door and pressed it, trying to block it, Johnny then ran up and helped him. I ran over and picked up the keys. I looked at them, one was pink, on was tan, another was purple, and the last one was blue. I ran over to Aphrodite.

"Hi, please let me out." She said, like nothing was wrong. She was such an airhead, never been a fan of her, her kids were alright, but she was to much for me. I went behind the chair she was sitting in and unlocked the handcuffs, they then fell to the floor. She then stood up quickly, it looked like a gust of wind went down her and she suddenly had on a white dress that looked more expensive then a wedding gown, and she had fresh makeup on and her hair fixed itself. "Agh, yes, freedom, thank you all, but I must be going now, bye bye." She said. She blew me a kiss, and was gone. "You're welcome." I muttered under my breath. I then ran over to Mr. D he used to help Chiron at camp-half blood, but a few years back he was called to Olympus.

"Agh, Tiffany Anderson, good to see you again." Mr. D said. "Bethany Henderson." I said as I unlocked the lock on his handcuffs. Then the cuffs fell to he floor, and without saying a word, he was gone. "Where'd he go?!" Johnny asked me pressing himself against the door. "I don't know, he's gone." I said looking around.

But then I heard the Michael Jackson get louder, I looked back and one cyclops put a hole in the wall and was trying to grab Johnny and Leo. But an ice blast hit the door, repairing the door. I looked back and saw Nick standing there. He was leaning to one side, and one arm was tightly pressed to his side, but he was moving. "Nick, get Hermes out!" I said throwing him a key. Nick grabbed it and walked over to Hermes.

I then ran to Poseidon and quickly put the key in the lock. Then Poseidon stood up, and I saw Hermes stand up to. "Okay, so, I need to run, got stuff to deliver." Hermes said. He then threw something at the door, it was a beam of some kind, but whatever it was it made the door still. Then Johnny turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You're just gonna leave?!" Johnny asked walking up to him. "Well, yeah, I need to do stuff." Hermes told him looking down at ho,. "Yeah, is that what you told Mom?" Johnny asked him. They fell silent, staring at each other. "I'm sorry, but take these, I know you won't forgive me, but, just know I do love you." Hermes said throwing Johnny a bag. His eyes were sad looking, but Johnny didn't look like he cared, he just stared at his dad. Hermes then disappeared. Johnny just looked at the small bag, it was made of cloth and was tied with a small string. But he just shoved it in his pocket.

"Okay, I need to make sure my loyal cyclops are alive, so here are these." Poseidon said throwing Leo keys, they looked like car keys. "Hey, before we go, can you help us?" I asked him. "Sure, it's the least I can do." He told me. "Well, the next part of the prophecy says go where the dead talk, do you know where that is?" I asked him.

His eyes then drifted to Nick, it looked like sadness. It looked like he wanted to say something, but then didn't, but he had something to say"Your mother...she was a great women." He told him out of the blue. Nick just looked at him. "My, my mother?" Nick asked him, but it sounded painful, like Nick was struggling to talk. Poseidon nodded. Nick just looked at him. "What was she like." He said silently looking at the floor. "She was kind, always giving to charity, respected where she was." Poseidon told him. "What does that have to do with the quest?" Nick asked him. Poseidon sighed, like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't, like how he started talking to Nick. "You..you want to go to Quebec." Poseidon told him. Nick looked like he had a million questions, but he just nodded.

"Oh, and one more thing." Poseidon said. "Yeah?" Nick asked him. Poseidon then threw him something. It was in the shape of a cylinder, and it was kind if small, the size of a sword handle, and was dark silver, but still shining. Nick caught it with one hand and just held it in his hands. "Give that to Percy for me." Poseidon told him. Nick then looked up and nodded.

Then I heard cyclops yelling. "Well, time for me to go, the dumpster is below that window, so jump down and you'll be good, bye now, and good luck Nick." Poseidon said. He then was gone, leaving Nick, just looking at where he was.

His arm then went off his side, and I saw something on his forearm, a tattoo. It was thing I saw on the train. It looked like it was a sword, and besides the color, it was exactly like the one he used to fight Zethes. I was gonna have to talk to him about that later. But Leo broke the silence. "Alright, let's get out of here, like now, I miss my wife and my dragon, so let's go." Leo said. He then walked to the window and opened it. He then jumped.

"Alright then." Johnny said, he then ran and dived through the window head first. I was about to go, but I looked back Nick. He was just standing there, wearing his tattered Hulk pants and necklace, with the silver cylinder in his hand. "Nick, let's go." I told him. "Do you think she's alive?" He asked me. I didn't know how to answer, I knew who he was talking about. I walked up to him, I then put my hand on his shoulder. "Nick, we'll find her, I promise, but now, we need to go." I told him. He then looked me in the eyes, but his eyes looked sad, but now wasn't the time to console him, we needed to run. I then grabbed his hand and ran to the window.

We both jumped out, and I heard the door slam open as we jumped. We landed in the dumpster. I landed on a garbage bag full of bottles that smelled like a sewer, great, and Nick landed on an old mattress, I don't want to ask where that came from. But we were fine. I then scrambled out of the dumpster and Nick got out next to me. But I looked up, and a few cyclops were jumping out. "Run." I said. We then ran off, looking for Johnny and Leo. But I knew where they were.

They was a big pick-up truck, it was a two door F-150 and looked like it had an eight foot bed. But on the side it said: _Neptune's fishing gear rental!_ It was what the keys were for, and it looked like Leo was ready to go. "GO GO, WE'RE HERE!" I yelled at him. He didn't ask he just started to go forward, and I jumped onto the back, I looked back, but Nick was a little behind. "Jump, I got you!" I yelled holding out my hand. He then lunged forward and grabbed my hand. His knees then hit the concrete while we were driving, but I the pulled him over the tailgate and we both landed in the bed. "Get back here!" I heard a cyclops yell, but we were gone, thank the gods, I was getting sick of Michael Jackson.

I then laid on my back, Nick next to me. I was tired, smelled like old beer from the trash, and Nick didn't look good and smelled just like me. "So, mind explaining what happened?" I asked him still laying back. For a second, Nick didn't answer, I thought he passed out. "I don't know, but I found out I'm a monster, my mom is somewhere, and my necklace is super powerful." Nick said. I then looked at him. "Nick, you're not a monster." I told him. He just looked up. But I saw his tattoo again. "And is that where you got your sword. Nick had a painful look on his face, like when people describe how they got injured, but then he slowly nodded. "Can I see it?" I asked him.

He sighed, he then reached at his arm, and a long cut appeared in his arm, I nearly puked. But then a sword handle appeared, he then pulled a sword made of ice. The blade was a little jagged, like an icicle, and the handle had white leather and a white pommel. "My sister gave it to me in a dream, I didn't want to use it, but now that the walking stick is gone, I might have to." Nick said. I then held out my hand, I wanted to see it. He then handed it to me. I grabbed it, it was cold, but had nice feeling leather. "Well, it looks like a good weapon." Bethany told me. I then handed it back to him.

He then turned it and stabbed himself in the arm, and the tattoo reappeared. I then put my hand down. "Hey, what happened?" Nick asked me. I looked at him weird. "To what?" I asked him. He then pointed to my hand. I knew what he was talking about. "Well, when you turned, your skin was super cold, and I touched it, and it gave an ice burn." I told him. Nick just looked at my hand, his eyes were wide. "I'm, I'm sorry." He said quietly. "You couldn't control yourself, you're fine." I told him. "Okay then well I'm just gonna lay down, I'm not feeling the greatest." Nick said. "Okay Jack." I told him. He then leaned his head back, and closed his eyes, I then leaned my head back, and just looked up at the sky.


	15. Johnny V

I was to tired. I just convinced a cyclops I was from Olympus, survived the Ice Hulk and like fifty cyclops, and jumped out of a window, I was done with this crap. Now I was sweating my hair off in a suit, I'd rather be getting beat up by David right now, but I had a feeling this quest was almost over, and it was kinda fun with Nick and Bethany, so I wasn't going to complain.

"So, is she okay?" Leo asked me. To be honest I forgot he was there, it's been pretty quiet, he was probably exhausted. But he was smiling and driving, just being happy. I was starting to wonder how a single can of red bull revived him, it was weird. But I liked him, he was funny like me, well I think I am at least. "When we got there she looked devastated, but with my charm I cheered her up a bit." I said with a dorky smile. He smiled, his teeth looked slightly yellow, they probably didn't give him a toothbrush in there. "Yeah, she's been the only thing I could think about, I miss her so much, she's my sunshine, and I miss having her in my arms." Leo told me, he sounded sad talking about her, but at the same time happy to know he was going to see her soon. "Trust me when I say, she misses you too." I told him. He just grinned like a madman.

We pulled up to the house, Leo parked the truck in front of Festus in Lambo form. But as Leo stepped out of the truck Festus turned into a dragon and ran to Leo. His eyes seemed brighter, and he just looked happy, even though he was a giant metal dragon who couldn't really show feelings. He made a bunch of clicking noises. "I missed you to buddy, but I need to see Calypso." Leo told him petting the side of his face. Festus made more clicking noises, he then walked back and turned into a car. I then looked in the trunk of the truck, Nick and Bethany were just lying down.

"Guys, we're here." I told them. Bethany groaned out loud, like a fat dude trying to run. "I need a shower, a new set of clothes, and my will to live." Bethany said as she got up. She then hopped out of the truck, but Nick was struggling a bit. "Leo, can you help me with Nick?" I asked him. He ran up to me. "You got it muchacho." Leo said, I put that in my memory, muchacho, I was going to have to use that. "Thanks." Nick said silently. I then reached out my hand, Nick reached up and grabbed it, but he kept his left hand at his side. Leo then walked up next to me and held out his hand. But Nick looked at it, he almost looked scared. "Come on, I got a wife to kiss." Leo said. Nick just sighed. "Just don't ask." He said. He then reached up and took Leo's hand, but on the underside of his forearm was a sword tattoo, it was jagged and looked made of ice, it looked sick! But I knew now's not the time to ask, so I kept my mouth shut. We helped him out, and he stood up, breathing heavy.

"So what's that?" Leo asked him. "I said don't ask!" Nick hissed at him. Leo meant it as a joke, but by Nick's tone, he wasn't in the mood. Leo just nodded. We walked up to the front door, and Leo just stood there. He turned and looked at me. "Do I look okay?" He asked me. "Just knock, I need a shower." Bethany said. "Just knock I need a shower." Leo mocked Bethany in a weird voice and making a weird face. He then put his hand on the door, and knocked.

I heard a bunch of knocks, like when we knocked on the door yesterday. Leo leaned forward. "Love you too sunshine." He said with a smile. The door slammed open, Calypso was standing there, she still had on jeans and her L and C shirt. Her eyes went wide when she saw him. She just stared at him, not sure if he was real. She then walked forward and put her hand to his face. Leo then brought his hand up and put it on hers. "Hey sunshine." Leo said again, even he had tears. Tears started to flood Calypso's eyes. She put her arms around his neck and held him close. She then started to cry, just openly weeping out loud. It reminded me of the scene in Attack On Titan, when Mikasa finds Eren and cries. (Yes I watch anime, do not judge me, me and Harley built a movie player and benged the series)

But she was just crying into his shirt, weeping loudly. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here." Leo said. She looked up at him and smiled. "I know." She said silently. She then pulled him down for a long kiss. It was clearly true love, and it was great to watch them finally be together again. They were locked together, and I feel like none of us wanted to say anything. She pulled back. "I missed you so so so much Leo." She told him. Leo looked down on her. "I missed you more." He said. She smiled at him. But she stepped back, she then looked at me.

"Thank you." She told me. She took a step forward and gave me a hug too, it felt good, it's nice to do something nice for someone. And she looked over and saw Nick. Her eyes went wide. "Oh my gods." She said as she walked up to him. Nick was leaning against the railing on the porch. "It's a long story." Bethany said. "I'm good with medicine, help me get him inside babe." Calypso said to Leo. "Umm yeah." He said rushing to Nick. He then put Nick's arm around his shoulder and walked him in, Nick went Hulk to old man, real quick.

"Where?" Leo asked Calypso. "Master bedroom, you two just stay down here, maybe get some rest, I just need to get Nick back to full speed." Calypso said, she then rushed inside after Leo. I looked over at Bethany, but she was probably upset about Nick. I was too, but he was gonna be fine, probably, hopefully, please Zeus let him be okay. "Look, I'm going to take a nap." I told her. She looked at the ocean. "Yeah, I need one too." Bethany said not looking at me.

After I walked in and shut the door, I noticed that the kitchen and living room was clean, any evidence of us being here was gone, but that didn't stop Bethany, she just fell on the couch, and I walked to the recliner and I collapsed into it. I leaned it back, and close my eyes.

I woke up in a different place, but I knew where I was, I was home. The room a small, the size of the bathroom in the Hermes cabin. The walls were once white, but now was chipped and had mold growing on the walls. And the carpet was stained with Zeus knows how many stains, and was now a bad brown color. I looked around, all that was in the room was a mattress on the floor and some posters on the wall, mostly old bands, like ACDC, Metallica, and Nirvana. I sat up and pushed the blanket off me. I stood up and stretched my back, my mattress was old and uncomfortable, I'd probably get more sleep if I slept on the carpet, but I don't want any diseases. I looked down at myself, and to be honest, even though I lived in a dump, my cloths were fine, probably because I found them at the lost and found at my school, clothes were always clean in there. I walked up to the door in my bedroom and opened it up. I then looked at the rest of the trailer.

Yes I lived in a trailer, but it was a home, some people don't even get to say that, they say that they have a car and that's the only home they need. The living room had an old beat up couch that had cigarette burns in it, and a few years back one of the legs broke, so it leans to its side. That was all in the living room, we used to have a TV, but mom broke it in one of her drunken rampages. I looked at the kitchen, there she was, the devil herself.

She was short like me, just 5'0, and she used to be fit, but now looked a bit stubby, borderline fat. She had that punk style haircut with one side shaved and the other in front of your eye, it used to be long, but she didn't like to be normal, so she cut it, I hated the look, she also died it pink and green. I miss her black hair, and I miss the old Mom. And she was just sitting there, meth needles on the kitchen table and a bottle of whiskey in her hand, her normal breakfast. Her hand was ashy, unlike the rest of her body, which was darker then mine.

"Hey mom." I said, but I was scared to say anything. She looked at me, her brown eyes dilated. She took a sip of whiskey, well more like quick chug and slammed the bottle on the ground. 'What?!" She asked me furiously. At that point, I forgot what I wanted, I didn't know what to tell her. "Umm, I, ugh nevermind." I said. She rolled her eyes. "Waste of space." She said under her breath. I would've asked her what's for dinner tonight, but for the years of being her son, I learned to just not talk to her when she's drunk or high.

Now you're probably thinking that a parent telling you that would mortify you, but I got used to it, she always said I was just a waste of space, or the cause of me was a broken condom. She picked up the whiskey bottle again and took a swig, drank it all. She stared at it, rage in her eyes. "Damn this thing to hell!" She screamed as she threw the bottle. It hit me right in the face, smashing as it hit me. I didn't know if it was on purpose or not, but I was scared. It caused a bad scratch on the side of my face, I hide it now with my dreads, but it was there, because Mom threw a bottle of whiskey at me.

I fell to the floor crying. "Oh, what's wrong, you got a cut, oh no." She said standing. She took a step to me. I looked up and saw her walking, I was on the floor, so I backed up using my legs. "No, please don't hit me, I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry!" I said. She just walked to me, stumbling a bit. "You're the cause of all my problems Johnathon, if not for you I'd be set, but now I have to help you, and with no help from your father!" She yelled at me pulling her hair.

As I looked at her I could feel blood dripping on my arm, I looked at it, and some got on the carpet. "And now you stain my carpet!" She screamed at me. She stood right over, hand ready to back slap me. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to happen. But someone knocked on the door. She looked back. "One moment please." She said in a happy drunk voice. She then looked back at me. But the guy knocked again, harder. She looked at me and snorted. "You're lucky, now stand up and sit on the couch, I don't want this person to see the cut on your face." She said. I didn't argue and sat on the couch, but I was still crying.

She walked up to the door, put her hair to the side and stood up straight, and straighten her bra. She opened the door and a man stood there. He looked like a gym coach, he had an orange collared shirt and a whistle around his neck, his jeans looked old and dirty, and shoes were filthy. His face looked like he was an angry old neighbor, stubby chin with the goatee and curly brown hair, and to top the whole thing off, a blue baseball hat, and a baseball bat in his hand. But that wasn't the strangest thing, he was looking at mom at eye level, which meant he was about 5'0, and looked slightly overweight.

"Umm, can I help you." Mom asked him. He then made a face like she wanted to puke, but she just burped in his face. He covered his nose. "Gods, you reek of alcohol." He said, his voice wa low and rough. Mom gave him a look of disgust. "Don't you judge me!" She told him. She slammed the door, but he put his baseball in the way, he obviously wanted to talk.

"Look, I'm from half-blood, I need your son." He said. But his face made it clear, he was probably going to be nice, but then he saw what I lived with. "He's not here." Mom told him. I wanted to yell that I'm here, but God knows what Mom would do. The guy just looked at her. 'Where is he then?" He asked her. She walked up to him and got in his face. "A camp, come back in a week." She hissed at him. He looked at her, probably wondering how to take this situation. "Fine," He looked around a bit. "I'll be back in a week, and trust me, it's for the best." He told Mom.

But in my mind, I heard a new home, somewhere where I don't have to worry about stepping on cracked glass or being beaten, I stood up and ran to the door. "I want to go!" I said loudly. I looked up, but Mom already had her hand up. She then brought it down, ready to backslap. I closed my eyes, waiting for it again. But it never happened, I opened them and saw the guy tightly holding onto her arm. He pushed her back, her arm was red from where he grabbed her. He pointed to a corner in the trailer. "Wait there!" He said loudly, he sounded agitated.

He looked at me, his face looked sad almost. He then got on one knee and took off his hat, revealing horns on his head, but I didn't ask anything yet. "How did you get that cut?" He asked me. "Umm, I tried to run around the house, but tripped and cut my face." I said, my head gazed over to Mom, she was nodding, basically saying to go with the "I tripped" story. But he put his hand on my head and moved it to where I was looking at him. "How did you get that cut on your face?" He asked me again. He reached in his back pocket and pulled something out, a small handkerchief. He then started to wipe the blood off my face. "I told you, I tripped." I said again, but I was scared, he could tell.

I looked over at Mom again. "No, at me," He said as he moved my head again. "now tell me the truth, how did you get that cut?" He asked me a third time, there was no hiding it. "She got mad when she ran out of whiskey, and threw the bottle at me." I said looking down. He nodded his head and put his hand on my shoulder. "Well, I'm Coach Hedge, and I have a home for kids like you, do you want to come with me." He asked me. I slowly nodded. "And what's your name?" He asked me. "Jonathan, or John." I told him. "Well, I'll call you Johnny, let's go Johnny, to a safe place." he said. He then stood up and reached out his hand, I took it, his hand felt rough, callus all over it, but he was so nice.

"Fine, go then, you were an accident anyways, so bye." Mom said in her drunken state. And Coach Hedge just put his hand on my back and walked me out of the trailer, and that was the last is aw of Mom. From then on, my life changed forever, but I was so depressed at home, when I went school I was quiet and no one noticed me. I didn't want to be the quiet Jonathan, or silent John, but from that day forward, I turned into the funny laughing all the time Johnny Harkens, and it worked, I even grew out my hair so no one could see the scar. And no one knows my biggest secret.

That I have depression.


	16. Nick VI

Everything hurt, I wasn't even fully awake, but it hurt. I opened my eyes, I was in a large bathroom, but my vision was a bit blurry, but I could get an idea of where I was. I was in a bathtub, full of hot water, still wearing my tattered jeans and necklace, and two people were standing next to the tub. Leo and Calypso. They both were looking at me, seeing if I was awake, and I probably shouldn't keep them waiting. "Hey..." I said silently. My throat felt scratchy and my voice sounded rasp, like I had strep. "He's alive!" Leo said happily. Calypso just put her hand up at him to shut him up and leaned forward to me.

"Nick, are you feeling okay?" She asked me. I wasn't, I felt hot, which i didn't like. "Water, please make it cold." I said, my throat still hurting. "Why?" She asked me. I looked at her. "Please." I said looking down. She obliged, she started the water again and put it on cold, I instantly felt better, my vision went back, throat felt better, and I could move a bit.

"Better." I said in my normal voice. I sat up a bit, I felt like I just woke up from a hangover, I didn't know what happened. "So, how do you feel?" Calypso asked me. I looked at my body, I looked like crap, multiple bruises lined my chest and arms, and a few cuts, but it didn't feel to bad.

"I think I'm good, do I look good?" I asked her. "No, no you do not." Leo said leaning against a wall, but he was smiling, I guess he joked about everything. "You don't look the greatest, but I checked on your vitals and stuff like that, and it didn't look good." She told me. To be honest I've never been to the doctor, so I didn't know how all that looked. "How is it?" I asked her.

She leaned forward a bit. Took a breath. "Well, first off you have a temperature of about 67 degrees Fahrenheit, you're extremely underweight for your height, being 5'11 and weighing 113 pounds, you have a tattoo, multiple bruises all over your body, and whenever I try to take off your necklace your eyes start to glow bright blue and your skin turns ice cold." She told me. It was like getting shot, I didn't know my body was that weird. I looked at myself, but I looked he same, maybe it was a good thing I've never been to the the necklace, I know when Brock ripped it off I turned into some kind of monster, and I've had it since I arrived at the orphanage, but what is it? But I would have to ask myself later, Calypso was waiting for me to say something.

"So what is my temperature supposed to be?" I asked her. "Well, normal people have a temperature or 98 degrees Fahrenheit or so, but I figure your low temperature is because of your dad, because Leo has a 123 degree Fahrenheit, but because of his fire ability and his dad." Calypso told me. Leo held his hand up in a gun shape, and on his finger was a flame. "Hot in the inside-" He blew out his finger. "And on the outside." He said with a smile. "Dork." Calypso said looking at him.

She looked back at me. "Now, what about that tattoo on your arm?" She asked me. I looked around, trying to come up with some kind of excuse. "It's nothing." I said biting my tongue. "It's something, we just want to help you, please tell us." Leo said walking up to me. I backed up in the tub, I could feel my heart beating, they were looking at me, expecting an answer, there was no backing out of this.

I told them about my dreams with Khione and how she did this, and how I've been trying to hide it, but it felt awkward telling these two adults why I have a tattoo, it felt like talking with a principle. After I was done, I just stared at my feet in the water, not wanting to look at either of them in the face. "Nick, don't worry, you're human, it's okay to be scared." I heard Leo say. But that didn't sound like something Leo would say, I thought he was just joking all the time, but he was looking at me with kind eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. "Well, you're acting like you're going straight to Tartus, but it's okay, and it's not even your fault, so don't stress about it." He told me with a smile. I smiled at him, he was right, I was stressing about this tattoo to much. "Thanks, but we need to go to Quebec soon, do you guys have a change of clothes?" I asked him quickly changing the subject, I didn't want to talk about the tattoo. "Yeah bro, wait here and I'll get it." Leo said. He got up and walked to the door. Calypso looked at me, then the door. "Well I guess I'll get Bethany and Johnny." Calypso said, she walked out too, leaving me in the tub.

I slowly stood up, I was sore and tired, my legs wobbled a little underneath me, but I did stand, so that's good I guess. I stepped out of the tub, and I saw myself in the mirror, just wearing these tattered pants and my necklace, I already missed my windbreaker and walking stick, now the only weapon I had was the ice sword. But I looked like crap, the bruises were purple and deep cuts, but it looks like they were tended to me Calypso.

The door opened and I looked over to it, and Leo was standing there with a pile of clothes in one hand, and a towel in the other. "Alright dude, here are same clothes, Bethany and johnny are ready, but no rush." He said. I smiled at him. "Thanks Leo, I'll be down in a bit." I told him. "Yea man" He said as he walked to the sink, he laid down the clothes, he then walked out, leaving me alone.

I walked over to the clothes, they were all folded and smelled nice. On top was the towel, I grabbed it and quickly dried myself off. I put that aside and looked at the clothes. On top was a fresh set of pants, black jeans, they were ripped on the knees and looked like skinny jeans, I picked that up and moved it to the side. Under that was a black t-shirt, it looked like a loose fit and looked just my size, and it just solid black. And under that was a denim jacket, when I saw it I fell in love. It was light blue and looked like a loose fit. I picked it up and saw it had pockets on the inside, and a strap, maybe for a dagger or some other small weapons. I loved it, I was gonna have to thank Leo for it.

But before I changed, I figured they were gonna throw these pants out, so I reached in my pocket and made sure nothing was in there. I thought there wouldn't be, but there was something, two things, one it felt like a card. I pulled it out, and I realized it was the card Hades gave me, when I first got it it looked like me, it did now, and it even had the tattered pants on, just like I had, I could even make out my sword tattoo. Weird. I put it on the counter and I pulled the other thing out of my pocket, and saw it was the gift I was to give to Percy, I forgot I had it. I put them both on the sink, two magical items from two of the most powerful gods in the world.

But I took off the rags that were once nice pants and put on my new clothes. Looking at myself in the mirror, I liked what I saw, besides my hair, that still bugged me. But I did look good, the skinny jeans suited me, I normally wore loose fitting jeans, because they were warmer, and the windbreaker was good for running, but I should head downstairs, they're probably waiting on me. I grabbed the card and gift from Poseidon, and walked out of the bathroom.

I stepped out, and I was in the master bedroom, I felt uncomfortable being in someone else's bedroom, so I quickly stepped out. There was a long hallway out of the bedroom, the walls had framed pictures, all of them were of Leo and Calypso. I walked down and looked at some of them.

I saw one where Calypso was on Leo's back, hanging around his neck by her arms, it looked like she was laughing, and Leo was just smiling, carrying her, they were in some kind of forest, they looked happy.

The next one looked like a series of photos, when Leo proposed to Calypso ,the first it looked like they were in a nice restaurant on a balcony, overlooking the Eiffel tower. The next showed Leo getting one one knee. The next showed Calypso holding her mouth, and the next was them kissing, it was nice, and on the frame, it said: " _I do."_

The next looked like they're wedding, it was Leo and his groomsman, they were wearing casually clothes, but looked like fun. It was Leo, Jason as the best man, Percy, Frank, and some skinny guy. The guy stuck out to me, he was smiling, but he looked unhappy. His hair was black and his skin was pale, he also looked just as skinny as I was, but he also looked familiar. But I didn't have time, I walked to the end of the hall, where there were stairs that led downstairs.

Bethany and Nick were waiting by the door with Leo, Calypso was sitting on the couch. "Hey." I said awkwardly. Bethany and Johnny smiled when they saw me. "Oh thanks the gods you're alright." Bethany said. Johnny chuckled a bit. "Yeah, if you were gone I'd have to throw the ice, wouldn't I?" Johnny said laughing. I just laughed at him.

"Alright, well we need to go to Quebec, right?" Leo asked us. He was right, that's where Poseidon told us to go. "Yeah, is there a god to teleport us?" I asked Leo. He looked at me, with a face that said: " _You didn't just ask me that."_ "How bout a dragon?" He said. I sighed, another ride, woopty freaking doo.

We walked out, I was behind Bethany. Her hair was flowing a bit, but she looked awake, I wondered how long I had been asleep. But I didn't care. What I did care about was the dragon on the front lawn, but people were driving by like nothing was wrong, I figured something was stopping them from seeing it, I'd have to ask Bethany about it later.

Festus had a saddle meant for four people on his back, it looked like metal, it must have taken a while to build, but I digress. Leo climbed on the legs and got right behind the dragon's head, he motioned us to get on. I walked up to it, I looked up at the dragon, not sure what to expect. I was a little scared to get on. The dragon's red eyes were bright, and a humming sound was coming from inside of it. "Alright, I'll get on first then." Johnny said climbing up on the metal beast, he sat right behind Leo, like a kid on a motorcycle.

I reached up and grabbed onto the saddle and pulled myself up, I got right behind Johnny, the saddle felt firm, but a bit wobbly. Then Bethany tried to reach up, but she was having trouble trying to grab onto something.

"I got you." I said. I then held out my hand. She looked at me, probably mad that she needed help. She cursed under her breath, she then reached up and grabbed my forearm, and I pulled her up. She reached up and grabbed the saddle and got behind me.

Leo looked back at us. "Alright, so I got new thrusters in Festus, so we should be able to get across the country in 10 minutes, 15 max-" Leo said as he tapped Festus' head. "And hang on." He said. He then pushed a button, and the dragon shot like a robot, I was trying to think what mortals saw, definitely not a giant metal dragon, maybe a large bird

But it caught me off guard, but I didn't feel sick, maybe due to the wind, it felt nice actually. But I heard screams from behind me. I turned and saw Bethany freaking out, I didn't know why but it was weird to see her doing that. Her hair was going nuts and her face looked pale. She was looking for something to hold to probably. She then looked at me. "Don't say anything." She told me with a dirty look. She then put her arms around my torso and held close. It shocked me at first, but she did need me, so I didn't say anything, I did it as a friend.

But the whole ride did feel nice. The wind blowing on my face and through my hair. And it was nice and cold, just how I liked it. I looked over the side of the dragon, and I saw how fast he was moving, like a jet flying through the air. But as we were moving, I saw the ground change, it looked like it was getting whiter, which meant snow, which meant we were close.

I could feel the air get colder, colder then the places I have been, it was probably freezing to the other three. But I felt a strange rush of power, I felt like I could kill one hundred monsters, but I decided to keep that to myself.

Leo pulled up to a large town covered in snow, the buildings looked old and made of brick, the people were covered in heavy clothing as the wind blew hard, and the sun was covered by clouds, so it gave off a haunting mood. "Alright, so I'm freezing, please hurry and get off." Leo said holding his arms together, he was trying to sound nice, but he wanted to go. Johnny slid off first, then Bethany let go of me and I slid off, then she jumped off. But before he left, Leo reached in his tool belt and pulled out something, a beanie, it looked like north face. "Take this, and good luck, if you need me, I'm your guy." He said, he then pressed the button again and shot off. I put the beanie on and covered my hair, don't want people to notice, but it was a nice beanie, so 2 for 2.

We all just stood there, I was feeling the cold, but Bethany and Johnny almost looked like the were in pain. "Okay, there's a mall over there, can we go in there and then devise a plan, please?!" Johnny said chattering his teeth. His face was red, I looked and Bethany and her face was just as red, even though it felt good to me, we did need to go inside.

So we walked through the streets, they were not to busy due to the ice, so we didn't have to worry about a wild car hitting us. The mall was near, and it looked nice, but a little small for a mall. It looked like it was the size of a Walmart, but the entrance was decorated heavily to make up for the size. Streamers lined the door and small statues of nutcrackers and gnomes were in front of the door, felt like Christmas, a very very very cold Christmas.

We walked up to the entrance and the door opened, immediately the smell of hot chocolate flooded my nose along with smells of vanilla. "Wow." I said. Bethany looked at me. "Never been to a mall?" Bethany asked me. I slowly shook me head. It was huge, looked much smaller on the outside, with stores lining the walls and different kind of snack machines around, I should have visited a mall long ago. As I was looking around, something caught my attention. It was a store, and the sign above it was weird looking, but I understood it. " _Marta's greek good."_

I pointed to it. "Let's check in there." I said. But they both just looked at me funny, like I said something stupid. "Why?" Bethany asked me, her face made me feel like an idiot. "Well, it's a Greek store." I said. They just looked at me, were they pranking me? "Nick, that's in french, how do you know what it says?" Johnny asked me. I looked back at it. And sure enough, the words looked different my second time looking at it. " _Marchandises grecques de Martha."_ But I could still understand it.

"Can you speak, french?" Bethany asked me. I just looked at the store, I've never been to France or spoken it, but I was reading it like a second hand nature. "I, I don't know, but it says Greek goods, let's check it out." I said. "Sure man, whatever you say Napoleon." Johnny said.

We stood up and walked over to it, the entrance was shut, but a sign on the door was french, it said open. We walked in front of the door, I then reached out and opened it.

The store was not to big, but filled with stuff. Swords and other kinds of weapons, bows, axes, spears, and other kind of weapons lined the walls, and at the end of the store was the sales counter, with one person. " _Hi welcome to Martha's Greek goods, can I help you?"_ She asked me in french, Bethany and Johnny looked at her, then back at me. " _Yes actually, I'm the only person here who speaks french, do you know English?"_ I asked her. She smiled at me. "I sure do." She said. "Great." I said as I walked up to the counter, Bethany and Johnny just accepted it and followed me.

The women at the counter looked old, maybe 60 or 70. She had wrinkles all over her face, but stood tall with no trouble. Her face looked wise, like the face of Mother Teresa, and she had on a camo military uniform with a military hat on, with bits of white hair falling out of it, she looked like the grandma of Sylvester Stallone. "Hi, I'm Martha." She said. Her voice had a small french accent to it, she probably grew up here and learned both English and french. "Hi, I'm Nick, and we saw the store and decided to check it out." I said with a smile.

"Well, I have many different things, special godly items, people shifting monsters, weapons, armor, and clothing." She said. "People shifting monsters?" Bethany asked her. Martha leaned forward. "They're monsters, but they can control the urge to kill demigods, you tell them who you want them to be, they'll go out and follow them for a week and see how they act and what they do, then they either kill or kidnap the person, and they turn into a replica of that person, it's useful for many things,only 200,000 drachmas." Martha told us.

All three of us stood there shocked, the idea of someone being a monster bothered me, and 200,000 drachmas, I had like five max. "That's, disturbing." Johnny said. "Well they sell well, or maybe you want the Styx windbreakers?" She asked us. I stared at her, with wide eyes. She looked at me, her hands drifting to a dagger at her waist. "Where are they?" I asked her more sternly then I meant. She pointed to a rack of clothes with a confused look. Johnny and Bethany just looked at me, like I was crazy.

But I dashed to the rack, there were a lot of the windbreakers, different colors and sizes, I was going through all of them, but one caught my attention. It was light blue, and thin material, the design looked like icy snow, it was my windbreaker. "Nick, is that..." Bethany was saying. "Yeah, it is." I said. I felt weird, I've never thought about where my windbreaker came from, but now I know. I felt dizzy, this meant Khione had been watching me for some time now. I put it back on the rack, with my hand shaking. Was she watching me now?

"I'm sorry Mrs. Martha, just a shiver." I said walking back to the counter. She just looked at me. Then Bethany looked at Johnny like she had an idea. "Hey, your dad gave you something, see if you could sell whatever it was." Bethany told him. "'Oh yeah, I forgot about that, it's in my pockets." He said. He reached in his pocket, and pulled out the small cloth satchel.

He then untied it and poured it's contents in his hand. It was five silver coins, but Martha was looking off somewhere else, so she didn't even notice. Johnny then walked up to the counter and laid them down. "You want anything for these." He asked her. "Hm." She said looking at him. But when she saw the coins her eyes went wide. "You're crazy." She hissed at Johnny. She then scooped up the coins and grabbed Johnny's hands and put them in his hand. "Don't go showing those off, those are valuable!" She told him.

"Umm okay, but what can I get for them?" Johnny asked her, he practically had dollar signs for pupils. She looked at him, like she was thinking, then she perked up. "Look, for one coin I got something real special that I think you'll like." Martha told him, she sounded happy. Johnny looked back at us, me and Bethany shrugged our shoulders. He then put the coins in the sack except for one. He handed it to Martha. Martha took it carefully in her hand, like she was holding a small child, she then opened her military uniform a bit, she then dropped the coin in there. I know where it was, I knew why she wanted there, and I wish I didn't know. "I'll be right back." She said.

She went to a doorway behind the counter that was covered with a curtain hanging from the ceiling. She pushed it by and walked in. Then I heard boxes falling, carts moving and hitting walls, and even a few animal sounds. I leaned over to Bethany and got close to her ear. "What's going on." I whispered to her. She got close to me ear. "No clue." She whispered back. Great

But she came back, she had some stains of Zeus knows what on her military uniform, but in her hands was an old looking box. It looked like a shoe box that survived World War I, World War II, and World War III. It had stains on it and holes in it. She walked up to Johnny and put it in front of him on the display case. "Here, this is possibly the nicest thing I have in stock." She said. Johnny just looked at it, confused. "What is it?" He asked her. She just pointed to a bench behind him, like the ones you find in shoe stores, I've been in a few. (If you're wondering why it's because they had free water fountains.)

Johnny just sighed, and walked to the bench with the shoe box in his arms. He sat down and opened it. Inside were an old pair of shoes, they had a logo I haven't seen before, a capital H, and a wing above the H. They looked like they were once white, but now were a bad grey color, and had a lot of mud stains on them. Johnny looked up at us, confused on what to do. But I didn't know what to do either, so I just gave him a thumbs up, saying just go for it.

He slipped off his shoes, they looked like they had seen a lot too, but that was from our quest. Johnny laid his shoes to the side, he then on put the new shoes. But they were way too big for him, like a small child trying to wear his dad's shoes. But when Johnny stood up, they shrunk to fit his shoes. "Okay, they fit, but kinda ugly," Johnny told Martha. Martha leaned forward and smiled. "Think as hard as you can, and stomp your foot to the ground." She told him.

He looked bored, but he obeyed. He closed his eyes, and lifted his foot, and stomped on the ground. I was half-expecting the ground to rumble, or something, but nothing. Johnny was about to say something, but two wings come out of each shoes, it was the ones from the logo. "Hermes gave them to me a few years back, they're nice, and will do you well." Martha told him. Johnny looked at his new shoes. He the jumped, and the wings started to flap, he was floating. "This is awesome!" He said. But as he did that he went in the air a bit and almost hit his head on the ceiling.

"Careful son, it might take a bit to figure out how to truly work those." Martha told him with attitude. He then floated down, and the wings went back into the shoe. He took his bag off and put his old shoes in the bag.

"Thank you very much, these will come in handy, and I'll spread the word of this place."Johnny told him. She nodded and smiled. "Well you kids have a blessed day, bye." She said, it sounded like she wanted us out, probably to use the coin to upgrade her small store.

We stepped out, Johnny was super excited about his new shoes. "So, know where?" Bethany asked me. I looked at her with a look that said: " _How am I supposed to know?"_ She rolled her eyes. But I felt Johnny tap my shoulder a bunch of times like he was worried. "What?" I asked him turning. But I saw what he was talking about. Across the store was two people, but one of them I recognized just fine.

"Zethes.


	17. Bethany VI

"Zethes." Nick said silently. I was shocked, and scared. He was wearing the same leather jacket and white shirt underneath, and he had on black skinny jeans and dress shoes, like a confused rich man. And he was facing someone who looked a bit like him. The guy he was talking to was tall, looked as tall as Frank. And he looked built. He had icy white hair like Zethes and Nick, he had on a hockey jersey and sweatpants, and as he was talking I saw he was missing some of his teeth. But Zethes turned and walked towards the entrance of the mall, and I saw the other side of his face. He had a white marble eye patch, like Oden's eye-patch in the Thor movies. Johnny gulped when he saw it.

But him and the big guy walked out. All three of us looked at each other, we nodded and ran to the door. We got out and saw them walking away. "Keep a good ten feet between." Nick said. He looked ready to kill, he didn't like Zethes, but I didn't either for a good reason. But I overheard him and the big guy talking.

"And little brother?" The big guy asked Zethes. I glanced at Nick, I was assuming Nick was the little brother. "Yes Cal, when he comes we are to tie him up and throw him in with the other one, and his friends are free game, but I want the pretty one!" Zethes told his brother. I knew who he was referring to when he said the pretty one, I wanted to shoot him right then and there, but I held position.

"And hockey?" Cal asked Zethes. Zethes threw his hands in the air. "After we capture the camp!" He yelled at Cal. Cal laughed a bit. Zethes glared at his brother. "What's so funny Cal?" He asked him. "You look like angry pirate, hang out with child of Ares." Cal said laughing and pointing at him. Zethes stopped and looked at Cal. "I am not like him, and besides, he is somewhere in the middle of the ocean." Zethes said, he must not like the pirate kid.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, I looked over and saw Johnny. "Pirate kid?" He asked me. "I don't know, worry about it later." I told him. "Capturing the camp?" He asked me a little louder. I looked at Him. "Later!" I hissed silently. He nodded and looked back at the two.

Zethes and Cal turned a corner at a brick building and walked up to a big house. It was big, like a mansion. Made of brick and had a flat roof. Windows lined the whole place and the garden in front of it was beautiful. Lined with all kinds of flowers and different kinds of plants. The yard around the garden was green, it looked nice. There were also a lot of cars in the driveway, all of them either bright blue or white, so we were probably in the right place.

But there wasn't a gate around the building, like you'd expect at a big mansion like this. So Zethes and Cal just walked up to the front door. They stepped in, but the door was left cracked open a bit. "Come on." Nick said. He then crouched and ran forward, keeping quiet, Johnny was right behind him. "Wait, this doesn't seem right." I said. Nick and Johnny stopped. "What do you mean, the door is open." Nick told me. He was right, but it seemed too easy. I drew Ebonwood, to be safe. We then snuck up to the house, and slowly crept into the house.

All he lights were off, it was pitch black on the inside, even though there a bit of sunlight on the outside. This didn't feel right. We snuck in, I felt we were on a big carpet, but nothing around us. The door suddenly slammed shut behind us. I quickly turned, and the lights came on.

The entry room was huge, there was a big rectangular carpet that led to a door that I assumed went to the basement, and next to the carpet were two sets of stairs that led to a balcony overlooking to entry room, and there was a door behind it. And to the right and left of us were two hallways, they floor was birch-wood and it looked like it was polished an hour ago.

Cal was standing next to the door with his crooked smile, I turned and saw Zethes next to a women. She was tall, had long black hair, and bright blue eyes. Her body reminded me of Daisy Ridley, and her face looked bitter, like Elsa had a child with Snape, she even had the blue dress. "Khione." Nick said gritting his teeth. "Brother." She said with a smile. He then reached in his sleeve and pulled out his sword, he then leaped in the air with his sword in the air, aimed at Kione. "AGH!" He yelled.

She quickly drew two daggers out of nowhere. They looked like Nick's sword, in the sense that they looked like ice cycles. She put the daggers on the airs in the shape of an X. Nick's blow landed right in the middle, both of them had eyes on eachother. She then pushed up and Nick went back. "Stop, I don't mean to fight you, and let's be honest, if given the chance, Zethes would kill a certain friend of yours." Khione said gesturing to Zethes.

He was glaring daggers at Johnny, he put his hand up to his eye patch, and just glared at Johnny. Johnny's knees were wobbling, he looked scared. I looked back at nick, he was looking at Khione, then Zethes, and back at Johnny, like he was trying to figure out what to do. He then put his sword back in his arm, I heard Johnny gag a bit when he saw it, but he would be fine. I put my bow on my back, and Johnny put his dagger back in his jacket. I noticed that he was still wearing the dirty tan suit, he must like it, I'll ask him about it later.

"Alright then, what do you want." Nick said not holding back how bitter her was. She smiled at him. "Well Cal wanted to meet his little brother." She said happily like nothing was wrong. I kind of figured Cal was Nick's brother, it didn't surprise me. Nick quickly turned and saw Cal walking to Nick. Cal put his arms around him and picked him up.

"Baby Nick!" He said loudly, his voice reminded me a little of Tyson's, but deeper. Cal looked so happy, but Nick looked like he wanted to die. "Please put me down." Nick said gritting his teeth. Cal didn't care, he just squeezed harder. Nick then used his legs and pushed Cal back with his legs. "I'm sick of this, why am I here!" Nick asked loudly.

He was looking around like a cornered animal, and I felt the same way. These powerful people(Who are related to Nick.) are planning something, but aren't saying anything. "Look, I'm not allowed to say, but Dad would love to say something." Khione said. Nick stood there, staring at her. "And Mom?" He asked her silently. Khione smiled, so did Zethes and Cal. "Dad knows, follow me." She said. Her voice sounded like she was tempting Nick, but Nick had a strong will, but he nodded and started to follow her, I guess a strong will can only get you so far. Khione smiled. "Guard the door boys, I'll take them to Dad." She said. They both nodded and went outside. Zethes shot Johnny another look, then went outside. Khione turned around and walked to the stairs.

We followed her, but I had my hand ready to grab my bow, she was planning something, and I knew it. "So, do you remember this place Nick?" Khione asked. Nick looked around. He looked, but he looked confused. "No, no I haven't." He told her. Khione sighed. " _Où penses-tu avoir appris à parler français?"_ Khione asked him in french. Nick sighed. " _Laissez-moi deviner, ici."_ Nick replied, I hated that I didn't know what they were saying. "You see, you were here for two years, you spoke french until you were sent to that orphanage." Khione told him. Nick stopped walking. "Well, why did you send me there, I hated that place." Nick said with bitterness in his voice. "Dad will explain." She said calmly, I already didn't like her.

We kept walking down a hall, we reached a door. Khione reached out and opened it. The room looked like a smoking room, but freezing, like a gust of wind hit me. The fireplace lit, but nothing else, so the room felt dark. There were painting of various things made of ice and snow, how surprising. But there was a couch in front of the fireplace, and there was a man standing there. He stood up and turned to us. He looked like Santa Clause, if Santa hit the gym four times a week. He had on a long sleeve sweater and khaki pants. The sides of his face was covered by his big beard and long hair, but I saw his eyes and nose. His eyes, bright blue like Nick, and his hair was white, with bits of snow in it. He smiled when he saw Nick, like someone just found something that they have lost, it was a welcoming smile.

"Son." He said. Nick just looked at him, confused. "Boreas?" He asked him. Boreas' smile faded. "Please, call me Dad." He said sternly, all the sudden he didn't seem as friendly. I could that Nick knew this. "So, you're my Dad?" Nick asked him walking up to him. There was an awkward silence, I looked back at Johnny, he looked like he felt the same way.

"Yes, I am Boreas, god of the northern wind." He said loud and proud. He was proud of his power clearly. Nick just glared at him, I didn't understand it, but he looked mad. "Why, why did you send me to the orphanage?" He asked him. Boreas looked around, he was hiding something. He smiled. "Well, we weren't sure if you were ready, so we've been testing you." Boreas said with a smile. Nick wasn't having any of it. "Then why did Zethes say something about capturing the camp, and something about putting me in a cell?" Nick asked him.

Him and Khione both went silent, we knew something that we weren't supposed to know. He sighed. "Alright fine, we're taking over the two camps, we've captured all the Olympians, and we used their power to charge our god robots, which you've seen." Boreas told Nick flatly. "Used their power, how?" I asked them. "Yeah, you guys are like minor gods." Johnny said with a slightly rude tone. "Minor?!" Boreas asked him with raged. He stood up, his eyes started to glow blue, and Johnny just stood there, scared out of his mind probably. Boreas' arms then started to glow bright blue, I saw the force of winter go through his arms. "Cool it." Nick said sharply. Boreas looked at Nick, his eyes stopped glowing, arms went back to normal, then he sat back down. "I know what you mean,it's a long story, but we have a special weapon that can suck anyone's abilities, and if we put them in a special set of chains, they can't use those powers until set free, which you noticed when you freed eight of the gods we captured." Boreas told us, he sounded mad when he mentioned the gods we set free.

That scared me, using the god's power, I shivered at the thought. But that explains how the captured the gods. "Where is this device now?" Nick asked them. Khione smiled. "Here." She said. Then a weapon appeared in her hand.

It looked like a spear gun, but the tip was hollow, and it had ice spikes lining the spear part, if it shot anyone, it would hurt, a lot. I cringed at the thought of that hitting me. "Now, a demonstration." Khione said. She pointed it right at me. "Hell no." I said.

I quickly drew my bow, and grabbed an arrow out of the quiver. I drew it and let it fly. It went flying at Khione, and it grazed her shoulder. "AGH!" She yelled at me. She dropped the weapon and grabbed her shoulder. She looked up and her eyes started to glow and she shot an ice blast at me, I felt it hit my face. I felt something cold enter my body, like drinking something that was ice cold, I felt it run through my body, and my vision went blue.


	18. Johnny VI

I stared at Bethany. Was she dead? When the ice hit her, it looked like when Anna turned into ice in frozen. She was just standing there, coated in an icy layer. "Bethany?" I asked silently. Her eyes suddenly darted at me, it made me jump. I looked over at Nick, and he looked furious. "What did you do to her?!" Nick asked Khione angrily. Khione just snorted at her. "She shot me, so I froze her, seems fair." Khione said.

Without hesitation Nick shot a blast of ice at Khione. It hit her in the face. She stood there, and her eyes began to glow again, but Nick didn't step back. "Ugh oh." I said. I looked back at Boreas, but he was just smiling. "Let's see how this plays out." He said smiling. He just calmly stepped back. I looked at him, he was unbelievable. But I had to take care of Bethany, I went and grabbed Bethany and put her on my back, she was surprisingly light for an ice statue, but I moved to the other side of the room next to Boreas.

Nick drew his sword out of his arm and lunged for Khione. He attacked but she blocked it with her daggers. She started to attack, slashing one attack after another, but Nick was quick, and blocked every shot with both hands on the hilt. "You're powerful for a demigod, the only other demigod to be able to do this was Leo." She said with a smirk as there blades were crashing together. She quickly jumped over him and stabbed his back and caused a long cut down his back.

He arched his back as blood started dripping down his back. He unzipped his jacket and threw it at me. I put on Bethany, maybe it would keep her warm. He quickly jumped back at her. He cut at her arm, then across her stomach. She held her stomach as golden blood started to go down her side, Nick was actually fighting a god. "You're pretty weak for a goddess." He said with a smirk. Khione's cut healed instantly and she jumped back up.

This was awesome to watch, but terrifying. "Umm yo, Mr. Freeze?" I asked Boreas. He looked at me with a dirty look. "What son of Hermes." He said looking at me with hate in his eyes. "Well first off my name is Johnny Harkens thank you very much, and should you stop them?" I asked him. Right as I said that I heard a wall break, I looked over and Nick was standing in front of a hole in the wall, he's stupid strong when he's pissed off. Note to self, do not piss off Nick.

"No it's fine, siblings fight all the time, and if it gets to out of hand, I'll stop them, or security will." Boreas said calmly. How is he so calm, his kids are killing each other, and he's just so nonchalant about it, that's almost as bad as my mom.

Suddenly Khione threw three of her daggers at Nick at super fast speeds, one hit his leg, another hit his arm, and the last one went straight through his side, and hit the wall behind him. Nick looked at her with blood rolling down his side, and fell to his knees. Khione smiled. "Well done Khione." Boreas said clapping, I hated this guy, with a passion.

"Not yet." Nick said. I looked over at him, and his hands were behind his neck, he stood up, and his hands went back to his side, with his necklace in his hands. "Ugh oh." I said backing up. Khione's eyes went wide. "Stupid child." She hissed at him. Even Boreas took a step back. Nick's skin then turned a light blue color, but I was able to see the transformation this time. I saw bright blue liquid go in his veins, causing his muscles to get huge, then he started to get taller, ripping his shirt and tearing his jeans, and his hair grew long.

He looked at his hands. It looked like a blue fog started to come from his hands, or like dry ice, and his eyes started to glow bright blue again, he's doing it again. "Look, brother, let's just stop this, okay?" Khione asked him backing up. Nick grew ice on his knuckles, the "ice knuckles" if you will. He then lunged forward punched Khione in the face, no remorse. He then grabbed her and slammed her into a wall. "That's for giving me a tattoo!" He yelled in low pitched voice. The good thing was that he could talk, which meant he might have slight control. I looked back at Khione, she tried to stand up, but Nick grabbed her leg and threw her over him, causing her to go through another wall. "That's for quote unquote testing me." He screamed at her. Khione wasn't moving much, she tried to stand. But Nick grabbed her hair. He pulled her up to his face. "And this is what you did to Bethany." He hissed in her ear. He then slung her at me. Right when she hit me, she shot a blast of ice at me, and I went flying back. I hit the wall and actually went through it, falling back.

I didn't know if I was going to land in a bush, concrete, or a pool, but I was praying that I would hit something soft. I saw my hands trying to grab onto something, but nothing. I hit a tree branch suddenly, breaking it, then I fell to the ground, hitting a bunch of tree limbs and thorns on my way down, I hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Ugh." I muttered. I wasn't dead, but I took some damage. I felt blood on my clothes, just freaking fantastic. I rolled over on my stomach, I then tore my jacket off, it was dirty and messy, I'll miss it though. I stood on my hands and knees, just taking deep breaths. I stood up, and came face to face with a bow.

It was a girl, she had short black hair, with a black leather jacket, black jeans, and combat boots. She also had a small crown on her head, and to top it off, there was a spear and shield strapped to her back, she was packing with weapons, she even had a quiver on the back of her belt. She had her bow drawn, aiming it right at me. I looked around and saw nine other girls, they all had bows drawn and ready to kill me, each just as armed as the girl in front of me. "Easy." I said putting my hands up slowly. She snarled at me. "Who are you?" She asked me, still aiming the bow at me.

"Johnny Harkens miss." I told her. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you from that big house?" She asked me gesturing to the house I just flew out of. "No, in fact I hate the people who live there, if you can't tell I just came out the window." I told her with a sarcastic look. She sighed of relief. "At ease, I can tell, he's telling the truth." She told me. She put her bow on her back and held out her hand. I took it and she helped me up. "Sorry about that, I'm Thalia Grace." She told me. She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, so why are you here?" I asked her shaking her hand. Another girl stepped up. She had long hair that was kept in a ponytail, her hair was dyed black and blue, her bow was on her back and she had two daggers strapped to her legs, and she had pretty much the same outfit as Thalia.

"We've lost our mistress, Lady Artemis, and we've tracked her here." She told me. Thalia nodded. "Julia is right." Thalia told me. I got scared. "Wait, are you guys the hunters?" I asked them. Thalia nodded. Ugh oh, oh no no no no, that means they might kill me because I'm a dude. I backed up, a little scared. Thalia rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Julia told me. "You're sure?" I asked cautiously. Thalia sighed. "Unless we're provoked, I swear on the Styx that we won't harm you." Thalia told me. "Oh thank the gods." I told myself, I actually go really scared there for a minute.

"But we need to get into that building, can you lead us in there?" Thalia asked me. This was nuts, I've heard about the hunters, and they apparently hate dudes, but there asking me for help, sweet, yay me, I guess. "Of course, I'll be you guys personal tour guide of ice douches house." I said. She nodded, ignoring my insult. "Just, follow me." I said a little sad that nobody laughed.

I walked out of the forest, with ten hunters behind me, I went to the side of the house, and slowly crept to the end and peeked around the corner. Zethes and Cal weren't there, thank the gods. "Okay, we're good." I said. We walked around the front of the house and up to the door. I slowly opened it.

The entry room was empty, but sounds of fighting rang through the halls. "Boreas is around this corner, he knows where Artemis is." I told Thalia. "Alright then, let's go!" She yelled loudly. They all the sudden ran in the house, bows aimed at every corner. I drew Jag and led the hunters. We walked down the hall to my left, I was trying to remember what room they were in, but one door had frost all over it, I took a wild guess and assumed that was it.

We crept up to the door, I slowly cracked it open. I saw Nick on the ground, he looked normal and had his necklace on, and Khione was standing over him and Boreas was smiling. Zethes and Cal were also standing over Nick, Zethes had a sword drawn, and Cal had two Thor style hammers in each hand, both their weapons looked like they were made of ice. But I was worried looking at Nick, I couldn't tell if Nick was alive, his jeans were ripped and his shirt looked like a few pieces of cloth attached to each other, and it didn't look like he was breathing.

I looked back at the hunters. "Now." I said. I slammed the door open with my foot and all eleven of us swarmed the room, weapons aimed at each person. They all looked surprised, even Boreas looked anxious. "Artemis, where is she?!" Thalia yelled. "Ladies, she is fine, let's not act hasty now." Zethes said winking at Thalia. "Watch it Odin, now where is she?!" Julia snarled.

I had to force myself not to laugh, I liked this girl, she was funny, like me. "Look, I don't have time for this, we're taking the camp, so I'll have to kill you all myself and take the camp." Boreas said. He stood up fully.

But his suit was gone, now it clothes was underclothing, but he was covered in armor. His armor look like hardened snow, I could make out the bits of snowflakes, it looked like a knight's armor. Spikes came out of the end of his elbows and he even looked taller, maybe 7'0. But his helmet, bull horns rose from the top of it, and his face was covered, except for two bright blue dots. A sword appeared in his hand, it looked six feet long, and made of ice, just like Nick's sword. He lifted the sword above his head, about to strike me.

"Wait." I heard a weak voice say. Boreas turned and saw Nick, slowly rising. "You're not dead?" Zethes asked him. "Quiet Zethes, speak your mind Nick." Boreas said in a deep voice. Nick took a deep breath. "I have a proposition." He said. He was clutching his side, I don't know what I missed, but he didn't look good. "And what is it." Boreas asked him. His sword melted, and so did his helmet, so he was looking right at Nick. Nick stood up and looked at Boreas. "Let them go to half-blood and set up defenses, if you do that, I'll stay here and you can do with me what you like." Nick said looking at him.

"Nick…" I said silently. "What about Artemis?" Thalia asked not caring about Nick. "Tell you what, I swear on the Styx, if you can stop us from taking over your amp, we will let all the gods go, as long as we have Nick." Boreas said. Thalia nodded. "Accepted." She said.

Khione didn't look happy. "This is stupid!" She yelled at her dad. The God just looked at her. "Give them the pearls, and let the girl go." He told her, but it sounded like a command. Khione gave him a dirty look. She then threw a bag on the ground. Pearls started spilling out. And she snapped her fingers, and Bethany came out of her ice form and fell to the ground. I grabbed two pearls and ran to her. I helped her up. "What happened?" She asked me. "Long story, but we're going to half-blood." I said handing her a pearl. She looked at them confused. "Crush them and say where you want to go." Zethes told us like we were supposed to know what to do.

I looked over at Thalia and Julia. They both nodded at me and crushed the pearls. "Camp Half-Blood." They all said in unison, and they all disappeared. I looked at Bethany and nodded. "Camp Half-Blood." Bethany said as she crushed the pearl, then she disappeared. I crushed mine in my hand, but I wasn't going to Half-Blood. I whispered something silently, and my world disappeared.


	19. Nick VII

Everything hurt, I wasn't even fully awake, but it hurt. I opened my eyes, I was in a large bathroom, but my vision was a bit blurry, but I could get an idea of where I was. I was in a bathtub, full of hot water, still wearing my tattered jeans and necklace, and two people were standing next to the tub. Leo and Calypso. They both were looking at me, seeing if I was awake, and I probably shouldn't keep them waiting. "Hey..." I said silently. My throat felt scratchy and my voice sounded rasp, like I had strep. "He's alive!" Leo said happily. Calypso just put her hand up at him to shut him up and leaned forward to me.

"Nick, are you feeling okay?" She asked me. I wasn't, I felt hot, which i didn't like. "Water, please make it cold." I said, my throat still hurting. "Why?" She asked me. I looked at her. "Please." I said looking down. She obliged, she started the water again and put it on cold, I instantly felt better, my vision went back, throat felt better, and I could move a bit.

"Better." I said in my normal voice. I sat up a bit, I felt like I just woke up from a hangover, I didn't know what happened. "So, how do you feel?" Calypso asked me. I looked at my body, I looked like crap, multiple bruises lined my chest and arms, and a few cuts, but it didn't feel to bad.

"I think I'm good, do I look good?" I asked her. "No, no you do not." Leo said leaning against a wall, but he was smiling, I guess he joked about everything. "You don't look the greatest, but I checked on your vitals and stuff like that, and it didn't look good." She told me. To be honest I've never been to the doctor, so I didn't know how all that looked. "How is it?" I asked her.

She leaned forward a bit. Took a breath. "Well, first off you have a temperature of about 67 degrees Fahrenheit, you're extremely underweight for your height, being 5'11 and weighing 113 pounds, you have a tattoo, multiple bruises all over your body, and whenever I try to take off your necklace your eyes start to glow bright blue and your skin turns ice cold." She told me. It was like getting shot, I didn't know my body was that weird. I looked at myself, but I looked he same, maybe it was a good thing I've never been to the the necklace, I know when Brock ripped it off I turned into some kind of monster, and I've had it since I arrived at the orphanage, but what is it? But I would have to ask myself later, Calypso was waiting for me to say something.

"So what is my temperature supposed to be?" I asked her. "Well, normal people have a temperature or 98 degrees Fahrenheit or so, but I figure your low temperature is because of your dad, because Leo has a 123 degree Fahrenheit, but because of his fire ability and his dad." Calypso told me. Leo held his hand up in a gun shape, and on his finger was a flame. "Hot in the inside-" He blew out his finger. "And on the outside." He said with a smile. "Dork." Calypso said looking at him.

She looked back at me. "Now, what about that tattoo on your arm?" She asked me. I looked around, trying to come up with some kind of excuse. "It's nothing." I said biting my tongue. "It's something, we just want to help you, please tell us." Leo said walking up to me. I backed up in the tub, I could feel my heart beating, they were looking at me, expecting an answer, there was no backing out of this.

I told them about my dreams with Khione and how she did this, and how I've been trying to hide it, but it felt awkward telling these two adults why I have a tattoo, it felt like talking with a principle. After I was done, I just stared at my feet in the water, not wanting to look at either of them in the face. "Nick, don't worry, you're human, it's okay to be scared." I heard Leo say. But that didn't sound like something Leo would say, I thought he was just joking all the time, but he was looking at me with kind eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. "Well, you're acting like you're going straight to Tartus, but it's okay, and it's not even your fault, so don't stress about it." He told me with a smile. I smiled at him, he was right, I was stressing about this tattoo to much. "Thanks, but we need to go to Quebec soon, do you guys have a change of clothes?" I asked him quickly changing the subject, I didn't want to talk about the tattoo. "Yeah bro, wait here and I'll get it." Leo said. He got up and walked to the door. Calypso looked at me, then the door. "Well I guess I'll get Bethany and Johnny." Calypso said, she walked out too, leaving me in the tub.

I slowly stood up, I was sore and tired, my legs wobbled a little underneath me, but I did stand, so that's good I guess. I stepped out of the tub, and I saw myself in the mirror, just wearing these tattered pants and my necklace, I already missed my windbreaker and walking stick, now the only weapon I had was the ice sword. But I looked like crap, the bruises were purple and deep cuts, but it looks like they were tended to me Calypso.

The door opened and I looked over to it, and Leo was standing there with a pile of clothes in one hand, and a towel in the other. "Alright dude, here are same clothes, Bethany and johnny are ready, but no rush." He said. I smiled at him. "Thanks Leo, I'll be down in a bit." I told him. "Yea man" He said as he walked to the sink, he laid down the clothes, he then walked out, leaving me alone.

I walked over to the clothes, they were all folded and smelled nice. On top was the towel, I grabbed it and quickly dried myself off. I put that aside and looked at the clothes. On top was a fresh set of pants, black jeans, they were ripped on the knees and looked like skinny jeans, I picked that up and moved it to the side. Under that was a black t-shirt, it looked like a loose fit and looked just my size, and it just solid black. And under that was a denim jacket, when I saw it I fell in love. It was light blue and looked like a loose fit. I picked it up and saw it had pockets on the inside, and a strap, maybe for a dagger or some other small weapons. I loved it, I was gonna have to thank Leo for it.

But before I changed, I figured they were gonna throw these pants out, so I reached in my pocket and made sure nothing was in there. I thought there wouldn't be, but there was something, two things, one it felt like a card. I pulled it out, and I realized it was the card Hades gave me, when I first got it it looked like me, it did now, and it even had the tattered pants on, just like I had, I could even make out my sword tattoo. Weird. I put it on the counter and I pulled the other thing out of my pocket, and saw it was the gift I was to give to Percy, I forgot I had it. I put them both on the sink, two magical items from two of the most powerful gods in the world.

But I took off the rags that were once nice pants and put on my new clothes. Looking at myself in the mirror, I liked what I saw, besides my hair, that still bugged me. But I did look good, the skinny jeans suited me, I normally wore loose fitting jeans, because they were warmer, and the windbreaker was good for running, but I should head downstairs, they're probably waiting on me. I grabbed the card and gift from Poseidon, and walked out of the bathroom.

I stepped out, and I was in the master bedroom, I felt uncomfortable being in someone else's bedroom, so I quickly stepped out. There was a long hallway out of the bedroom, the walls had framed pictures, all of them were of Leo and Calypso. I walked down and looked at some of them.

I saw one where Calypso was on Leo's back, hanging around his neck by her arms, it looked like she was laughing, and Leo was just smiling, carrying her, they were in some kind of forest, they looked happy.

The next one looked like a series of photos, when Leo proposed to Calypso ,the first it looked like they were in a nice restaurant on a balcony, overlooking the Eiffel tower. The next showed Leo getting one one knee. The next showed Calypso holding her mouth, and the next was them kissing, it was nice, and on the frame, it said: " _I do."_

The next looked like they're wedding, it was Leo and his groomsman, they were wearing casually clothes, but looked like fun. It was Leo, Jason as the best man, Percy, Frank, and some skinny guy. The guy stuck out to me, he was smiling, but he looked unhappy. His hair was black and his skin was pale, he also looked just as skinny as I was, but he also looked familiar. But I didn't have time, I walked to the end of the hall, where there were stairs that led downstairs.

Bethany and Nick were waiting by the door with Leo, Calypso was sitting on the couch. "Hey." I said awkwardly. Bethany and Johnny smiled when they saw me. "Oh thanks the gods you're alright." Bethany said. Johnny chuckled a bit. "Yeah, if you were gone I'd have to throw the ice, wouldn't I?" Johnny said laughing. I just laughed at him.

"Alright, well we need to go to Quebec, right?" Leo asked us. He was right, that's where Poseidon told us to go. "Yeah, is there a god to teleport us?" I asked Leo. He looked at me, with a face that said: " _You didn't just ask me that."_ "How bout a dragon?" He said. I sighed, another ride, woopty freaking doo.

We walked out, I was behind Bethany. Her hair was flowing a bit, but she looked awake, I wondered how long I had been asleep. But I didn't care. What I did care about was the dragon on the front lawn, but people were driving by like nothing was wrong, I figured something was stopping them from seeing it, I'd have to ask Bethany about it later.

Festus had a saddle meant for four people on his back, it looked like metal, it must have taken a while to build, but I digress. Leo climbed on the legs and got right behind the dragon's head, he motioned us to get on. I walked up to it, I looked up at the dragon, not sure what to expect. I was a little scared to get on. The dragon's red eyes were bright, and a humming sound was coming from inside of it. "Alright, I'll get on first then." Johnny said climbing up on the metal beast, he sat right behind Leo, like a kid on a motorcycle.

I reached up and grabbed onto the saddle and pulled myself up, I got right behind Johnny, the saddle felt firm, but a bit wobbly. Then Bethany tried to reach up, but she was having trouble trying to grab onto something.

"I got you." I said. I then held out my hand. She looked at me, probably mad that she needed help. She cursed under her breath, she then reached up and grabbed my forearm, and I pulled her up. She reached up and grabbed the saddle and got behind me.

Leo looked back at us. "Alright, so I got new thrusters in Festus, so we should be able to get across the country in 10 minutes, 15 max-" Leo said as he tapped Festus' head. "And hang on." He said. He then pushed a button, and the dragon shot like a robot, I was trying to think what mortals saw, definitely not a giant metal dragon, maybe a large bird

But it caught me off guard, but I didn't feel sick, maybe due to the wind, it felt nice actually. But I heard screams from behind me. I turned and saw Bethany freaking out, I didn't know why but it was weird to see her doing that. Her hair was going nuts and her face looked pale. She was looking for something to hold to probably. She then looked at me. "Don't say anything." She told me with a dirty look. She then put her arms around my torso and held close. It shocked me at first, but she did need me, so I didn't say anything, I did it as a friend.

But the whole ride did feel nice. The wind blowing on my face and through my hair. And it was nice and cold, just how I liked it. I looked over the side of the dragon, and I saw how fast he was moving, like a jet flying through the air. But as we were moving, I saw the ground change, it looked like it was getting whiter, which meant snow, which meant we were close.

I could feel the air get colder, colder then the places I have been, it was probably freezing to the other three. But I felt a strange rush of power, I felt like I could kill one hundred monsters, but I decided to keep that to myself.

Leo pulled up to a large town covered in snow, the buildings looked old and made of brick, the people were covered in heavy clothing as the wind blew hard, and the sun was covered by clouds, so it gave off a haunting mood. "Alright, so I'm freezing, please hurry and get off." Leo said holding his arms together, he was trying to sound nice, but he wanted to go. Johnny slid off first, then Bethany let go of me and I slid off, then she jumped off. But before he left, Leo reached in his tool belt and pulled out something, a beanie, it looked like north face. "Take this, and good luck, if you need me, I'm your guy." He said, he then pressed the button again and shot off. I put the beanie on and covered my hair, don't want people to notice, but it was a nice beanie, so 2 for 2.

We all just stood there, I was feeling the cold, but Bethany and Johnny almost looked like the were in pain. "Okay, there's a mall over there, can we go in there and then devise a plan, please?!" Johnny said chattering his teeth. His face was red, I looked and Bethany and her face was just as red, even though it felt good to me, we did need to go inside.

So we walked through the streets, they were not to busy due to the ice, so we didn't have to worry about a wild car hitting us. The mall was near, and it looked nice, but a little small for a mall. It looked like it was the size of a Walmart, but the entrance was decorated heavily to make up for the size. Streamers lined the door and small statues of nutcrackers and gnomes were in front of the door, felt like Christmas, a very very very cold Christmas.

We walked up to the entrance and the door opened, immediately the smell of hot chocolate flooded my nose along with smells of vanilla. "Wow." I said. Bethany looked at me. "Never been to a mall?" Bethany asked me. I slowly shook me head. It was huge, looked much smaller on the outside, with stores lining the walls and different kind of snack machines around, I should have visited a mall long ago. As I was looking around, something caught my attention. It was a store, and the sign above it was weird looking, but I understood it. " _Marta's greek good."_

I pointed to it. "Let's check in there." I said. But they both just looked at me funny, like I said something stupid. "Why?" Bethany asked me, her face made me feel like an idiot. "Well, it's a Greek store." I said. They just looked at me, were they pranking me? "Nick, that's in french, how do you know what it says?" Johnny asked me. I looked back at it. And sure enough, the words looked different my second time looking at it. " _Marchandises grecques de Martha."_ But I could still understand it.

"Can you speak, french?" Bethany asked me. I just looked at the store, I've never been to France or spoken it, but I was reading it like a second hand nature. "I, I don't know, but it says Greek goods, let's check it out." I said. "Sure man, whatever you say Napoleon." Johnny said.

We stood up and walked over to it, the entrance was shut, but a sign on the door was french, it said open. We walked in front of the door, I then reached out and opened it.

The store was not to big, but filled with stuff. Swords and other kinds of weapons, bows, axes, spears, and other kind of weapons lined the walls, and at the end of the store was the sales counter, with one person. " _Hi welcome to Martha's Greek goods, can I help you?"_ She asked me in french, Bethany and Johnny looked at her, then back at me. " _Yes actually, I'm the only person here who speaks french, do you know English?"_ I asked her. She smiled at me. "I sure do." She said. "Great." I said as I walked up to the counter, Bethany and Johnny just accepted it and followed me.

The women at the counter looked old, maybe 60 or 70. She had wrinkles all over her face, but stood tall with no trouble. Her face looked wise, like the face of Mother Teresa, and she had on a camo military uniform with a military hat on, with bits of white hair falling out of it, she looked like the grandma of Sylvester Stallone. "Hi, I'm Martha." She said. Her voice had a small french accent to it, she probably grew up here and learned both English and french. "Hi, I'm Nick, and we saw the store and decided to check it out." I said with a smile.

"Well, I have many different things, special godly items, people shifting monsters, weapons, armor, and clothing." She said. "People shifting monsters?" Bethany asked her. Martha leaned forward. "They're monsters, but they can control the urge to kill demigods, you tell them who you want them to be, they'll go out and follow them for a week and see how they act and what they do, then they either kill or kidnap the person, and they turn into a replica of that person, it's useful for many things,only 200,000 drachmas." Martha told us.

All three of us stood there shocked, the idea of someone being a monster bothered me, and 200,000 drachmas, I had like five max. "That's, disturbing." Johnny said. "Well they sell well, or maybe you want the Styx windbreakers?" She asked us. I stared at her, with wide eyes. She looked at me, her hands drifting to a dagger at her waist. "Where are they?" I asked her more sternly then I meant. She pointed to a rack of clothes with a confused look. Johnny and Bethany just looked at me, like I was crazy.

But I dashed to the rack, there were a lot of the windbreakers, different colors and sizes, I was going through all of them, but one caught my attention. It was light blue, and thin material, the design looked like icy snow, it was my windbreaker. "Nick, is that..." Bethany was saying. "Yeah, it is." I said. I felt weird, I've never thought about where my windbreaker came from, but now I know. I felt dizzy, this meant Khione had been watching me for some time now. I put it back on the rack, with my hand shaking. Was she watching me now?

"I'm sorry Mrs. Martha, just a shiver." I said walking back to the counter. She just looked at me. Then Bethany looked at Johnny like she had an idea. "Hey, your dad gave you something, see if you could sell whatever it was." Bethany told him. "'Oh yeah, I forgot about that, it's in my pockets." He said. He reached in his pocket, and pulled out the small cloth satchel.

He then untied it and poured it's contents in his hand. It was five silver coins, but Martha was looking off somewhere else, so she didn't even notice. Johnny then walked up to the counter and laid them down. "You want anything for these." He asked her. "Hm." She said looking at him. But when she saw the coins her eyes went wide. "You're crazy." She hissed at Johnny. She then scooped up the coins and grabbed Johnny's hands and put them in his hand. "Don't go showing those off, those are valuable!" She told him.

"Umm okay, but what can I get for them?" Johnny asked her, he practically had dollar signs for pupils. She looked at him, like she was thinking, then she perked up. "Look, for one coin I got something real special that I think you'll like." Martha told him, she sounded happy. Johnny looked back at us, me and Bethany shrugged our shoulders. He then put the coins in the sack except for one. He handed it to Martha. Martha took it carefully in her hand, like she was holding a small child, she then opened her military uniform a bit, she then dropped the coin in there. I know where it was, I knew why she wanted there, and I wish I didn't know. "I'll be right back." She said.

She went to a doorway behind the counter that was covered with a curtain hanging from the ceiling. She pushed it by and walked in. Then I heard boxes falling, carts moving and hitting walls, and even a few animal sounds. I leaned over to Bethany and got close to her ear. "What's going on." I whispered to her. She got close to me ear. "No clue." She whispered back. Great

But she came back, she had some stains of Zeus knows what on her military uniform, but in her hands was an old looking box. It looked like a shoe box that survived World War I, World War II, and World War III. It had stains on it and holes in it. She walked up to Johnny and put it in front of him on the display case. "Here, this is possibly the nicest thing I have in stock." She said. Johnny just looked at it, confused. "What is it?" He asked her. She just pointed to a bench behind him, like the ones you find in shoe stores, I've been in a few. (If you're wondering why it's because they had free water fountains.)

Johnny just sighed, and walked to the bench with the shoe box in his arms. He sat down and opened it. Inside were an old pair of shoes, they had a logo I haven't seen before, a capital H, and a wing above the H. They looked like they were once white, but now were a bad grey color, and had a lot of mud stains on them. Johnny looked up at us, confused on what to do. But I didn't know what to do either, so I just gave him a thumbs up, saying just go for it.

He slipped off his shoes, they looked like they had seen a lot too, but that was from our quest. Johnny laid his shoes to the side, he then on put the new shoes. But they were way too big for him, like a small child trying to wear his dad's shoes. But when Johnny stood up, they shrunk to fit his shoes. "Okay, they fit, but kinda ugly," Johnny told Martha. Martha leaned forward and smiled. "Think as hard as you can, and stomp your foot to the ground." She told him.

He looked bored, but he obeyed. He closed his eyes, and lifted his foot, and stomped on the ground. I was half-expecting the ground to rumble, or something, but nothing. Johnny was about to say something, but two wings come out of each shoes, it was the ones from the logo. "Hermes gave them to me a few years back, they're nice, and will do you well." Martha told him. Johnny looked at his new shoes. He the jumped, and the wings started to flap, he was floating. "This is awesome!" He said. But as he did that he went in the air a bit and almost hit his head on the ceiling.

"Careful son, it might take a bit to figure out how to truly work those." Martha told him with attitude. He then floated down, and the wings went back into the shoe. He took his bag off and put his old shoes in the bag.

"Thank you very much, these will come in handy, and I'll spread the word of this place."Johnny told him. She nodded and smiled. "Well you kids have a blessed day, bye." She said, it sounded like she wanted us out, probably to use the coin to upgrade her small store.

We stepped out, Johnny was super excited about his new shoes. "So, know where?" Bethany asked me. I looked at her with a look that said: " _How am I supposed to know?"_ She rolled her eyes. But I felt Johnny tap my shoulder a bunch of times like he was worried. "What?" I asked him turning. But I saw what he was talking about. Across the store was two people, but one of them I recognized just fine.

"Zethes.


	20. Bethany VII

This wasn't good. Me, Chiron, Percy, Frank, and Thalia were in front of the big house. Percy had on leather armor, along with riptide in his pocket and his watch shield on his wrist, all Frank had was a black fur jacket, no armor, but he didn't need it, he also had his bow and quiver on his back. And Chiron was in his centaur form, bow ready on his back, and Thalia had a knife strapped to her thigh with her bow, she looked ready for a fight. All across the hill next to the big house was campers, ready to fight. Ares kids had weapons drawn and armor, ready for battle. They were le by David, he was a jerk, but he one of the strongest campers at camp. The Apollo kids and Hunters of Artemis lines the hill, bows drawn ready, they were led by Julia, one of the higher up Hunters. The Hephaestus cabin had catapults pulled up, led by Harley. And the rest of the Apollo kids and Aphrodite kids were back at camp in the infirmary. Across the valley, next to the Athena Parthenos,was the force of Boreas. There were six giant robots, looking just like the one we saw back with Leo. Except each had its own color, I'm assuming for each god. But that didn't scare me the most, the thing that scared me the most was that there were monsters out there, liked like hundreds of them, even if we were ready for World War III, we were in trouble. "She must still have the power of Hades to raise up the monsters." Chiron said, I could tell the look on his face, he was trying to figure out how to deal with this.

"Look, they look strong, we should just give them what they want." Percy said. He was smirking, typical Percy, but when times like this happen, he is't like that. "No, we'll come up with a peaceful solution that benefits both sides." Frank said sternly. Thalia snorted. "You're peaceful for a son of Ares." She said smiling. "Mars." Frank told her angrily.

Chiron took a breath. "No more time, they're coming." Chiron said with a worried look. I looked over and saw four people walking to where we were. Khione, Boreas, Cal, and Zethes. None of them had weapons dawn, but I saw Cal had two hammers strapped to his upper thigh, and Zethes had a sword at his belt. "Alright then, Bethany, come with us." Frank said. I didn't question him, he had good reasoning, not even Annabeth questioned him.

We all walked down the hill separating the two "armies". Frank held up his fist, signaling to the David not to attack. David had an unsaid respect for Frank, and so did all the campers at Half-Blood, even though he's a former Roman Preater.

As we were approaching, I noticed that Boreas still didn't have his helmet on, so I saw Boreas' face. It was calm, like he was just taking a walk down the street, but he knew what he was doing. We walked up in front of them, us five facing the four of them. For a minute, there was silence, neither side talking. Chiron stepped forward a bit.

"Hello, I am Chiron, and I must ask why you are here?" Chiron asked them calmly. He was able to keep his cool, I wanted to put an arrow in Khione right now, but I had to follow Chiron's example. "Hello Chiron, I am Boreas, god of the north wind and Winter." Boreas said like a kid talking about what he just got for Christmas. He held out his hand, expecting a handshake from Chiron. Chiron just looked at him with a flat face. Boreas made a discouraging face.

"Listen, I'll say it bluntly, I want your camp." Boreas said. Percy looked back and forth between the two. "Look at those monsters Chiron." Percy said quietly. "Listen to the son of Poseidon, he knows what he's talking about." Boreas said looking at Percy. Frank stepped up. "No Percy, look, let's come up with some kind of agreement where we both benefit." Frank said frustrated. Cal stepped up, looking eye level to Frank. "Big man weak, fight, no treaty!" Cal yelled. Frank's eyes went wide, he was getting a little pissed. "Listen, we have kids as young as seven who don't have homes, where will they go!" Frank yelled at them. "We don't care where the brats go, put them on the street for all I care." Zethes said bored. Frank stepped forward, looking like he was going to kill Zethes. Me and Thalia both stepped forward and tried to hold him back. "Peace Frank, think peacefully!" Thalia yelled. He was strong, it was hard to hold him back. He stepped back. "Fine, I'm cool, I'm cool." He said holding his hands up. Zethes was about to say something, but I heard campers starting to say something behind us. I turned, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Nick, and Percy...Nick had his sword ready, and just had on the same old black jeans from when we were in Canada, didn't even have a shirt or shoes. Percy had on blue jeans and a orange camp shirt, they looked dirty and old, but that wasn't the weirdest part. In his hands was a silver trident, with blue lines running down it. The Percy next to me made a whimpering noise. "IMPOSTOR!" The new Percy said, or old, I was so confused. He threw his trident like a javelin. It hit the Percy next to me. "AGH!" Percy screamed in a high pitched voice, like a shriek. He then turned into a pile of golden dust. "Percy?" Chiron asked out loud. Percy walked up to us. "I'll explain, just give me a minute." He said. He bent down and went through the pile, he grabbed a few things. His wallet, riptide, his watch shield, and his car keys. The last thing he got was a picture of his family, him, Annabeth, and his daughter Sandy. He smiled and stood up. I saw Nick walk up behind him, his chest looked badly injured, with blood dripping from a wound, but he didn't seem to care, he was dead staring at Khione.

"Alright, what's going on here?" Frank asked. "Look, I'll give you more details later, but they sent a kind of monster to disguise itself as me." Percy said. He reached down and picked up his trident. "How did you get out?!" Khione asked. She looked dumbfounded, the look suited her to be honest. "Too much talk, fight!" Cal yelled. He drew one of his hammers and tried to hit Frank in the face. Frank shot his arm up and caught the hammer, he held it strongly in his hands. Franks eyes were big and mad. Cal looked at him confused and scared. "ATTACK!" Frank yelled, he sounded like a general leading his men. He lunged at Cal, turned into a bear and tackled Cal. The fighting had begun.

"NO PRISONERS, NO SURRENDER!" I heard David yell. I looked back and saw all the campers running down the hill, led by David and the Ares cabin. I looked back over and the army of monsters were charging towards us. I saw Nick was already attacking Khione, and Khione was struggling. But Nick was fighting crazily, swinging super fast with no mercy for his sister, like some sort of revenge. I looked over at Percy and he was going ham against Boreas, the fact that him and Nick could go toe to toe with gods made me feel weak. And Frank was absolutely killing Zethes and Cal as a bear. I saw Chiron shooting monsters from a distance.

I drew Ebonwood and starting shooting arrows. I wasn't aiming so to speak, more like shooting arrows into the general area of the monsters. It worked, I saw some turn into dust. I was so distracted I forgot about the campers charging into battle. "Bethany move!" I heard someone yell from behind me. I turned and saw about two hundred campers charging, like a stampede, and the kid that yelled was David. I looked around desperately, I needed something to get in front. And to my luck I saw a boulder. I darted to it and got in front of it.

I was breathing heavy, the sounds of the Ares kids charging was getting louder and louder, I could even hear their armor clanking around. I saw a shadow in front of me, I tucked my knees in, and saw David jump over the rock and charge the monsters. All the Ares kids followed. They were the first to clash against the monsters. I heard swords clashing and monsters sounds as I stayed in front of the boulder. I started to see gold dust fly up in the air in the middle of the fighting. I stood up and was about to shoot one of the monsters, but I felt someone tackle me to the ground. I fell forward on my stomach. "Hey!" I yelled. I looked up and saw Mitchell standing there.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed at him. I ran up to him and dragged him to the boulder, he wasn't suited for fighting, and you could tell. His leather chest piece was backwards, and he holding his dagger like it was poison, and is helmet looked like it was about to fall off his head. 'You're supposed to be with my cabin at the infirmary!" I yelled at him. He looked at me scared. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to help, and I will!" He said. And before I could stop him, he charged in with the rest of the campers, great.

I'll worry about him later, I needed to kill some of these guys. I got up and climbed up on the boulder, this rock was starting to become my best friend. I drew my bow, and drew an arrow, using the rock as a sniper tower. I knocked a few arrows, all of them hit a monster, I was getting good at it, I mentally thanked Frank. Speaking of which, how are they doing?

I looked over, and had a heart attack. Percy wasn't doing as hot as he was against Boreas, he was getting tired, but not slowing down. He also kinda looked ridiculous. He had the trident in one hand, riptide in the other, and his watch shield was activated on his wrist. But it was effective. The only problem was that Boreas didn't seem affected, he was very powerful. I noticed that it was starting to snow, Boreas must have caused it. I silently prayed that it wouldn't be a blizzard.

I looked back at Nick, and he wasn't slowing down at all, if anything he was speeding up, he just kept attacking Khione. Every now and then a monster would try to get Nick, but just cut through them like butter and kept going at it with Khione. But the look on his face. His eyes were narrow, eyebrows curved, teeth gritted, and the lines on his face looked much more definite, he looked more then pissed off. "Stop this, you are powerful Nick, and your power is double when you go berserk, but I am a goddess, nothing will stop me!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Berserk, that explain how Nick went nuts and got all big. But I didn't like the tone of her voice, I drew an arrow and let it go right at her. It hit her in the side, she leaned forward in pain, Nick used that chance to cause a giant ice spike to come out of the ground, throwing Khione back a few hundred feet. He looked at me and flashed a thumbs up. I nodded at him.

I decided I might need to help Frank, but I didn't see him. I looked around, but the bear was gone. I saw Cal and Zethes though, and they looked confused. Frank was planning something, I could tell, he wouldn't just ditch us like that. "Show yourself shifter!" Zethes screamed. Cal had a worried look on his face. "Bear is gone." Cal said holding his hammers in a fighting stance. But something caught my attention in the sky.

I looked up and saw an eagle, it was a great thing to see, but eagles don't usually come to camp. I was waiting for it to do something, and then it swooped down. As it was flying down, it got bigger, and the feathers disappeared, replaced with gray rough skin, no more beak, just a large trunk, and to claws, instead bigger sized pillars. Now an elephant was flying from the sky. It landed next to Zethes and Cal, they both fell to the ground. **"RAUGH!"** It yelled. It picked up Cal with its trunk and threw him away, and he then kicked Zethes back.

Frank turned back into himself. "Yeah, that's what happens when you break into this camp!" He yelled triumphantly. He looked like a true son of Ares, or Mars. But I wasn't paying attention to the giant battle, and one of the god robots was running at Frank. It was just as tall as other one I saw, but it looked different. It had black metal armor with red eyes, and the tubes lining its body were red and black, and it's hands were two blades, it must have been Hades. "Look out!" I yelled at Frank frantically.

But I was to late, Frank looked over just to get shoulder tackled on the ground. Frank was tall, but he wasn't eight feet tall like the robot. Frank fell back on his back, and rolled on his neck and fell on his stomach. This wasn't good, Frank wasn't moving, but I couldn't kill it, I needed to focus on the battle. I looked back at the valley, two of the god robots were in the center of fighting, picking up campers and throwing them back. We weren't going to win this.

 **"** **ARGH!"** I heard a noise. It sounded like an animal screaming through a megaphone. It rang through the battlefield. We all stopped fighting for a minute, trying to see which team has the beast, even the robots seemed to look around. The only people who didn't care was Nick and Khione. But she looked concerned. 'Stop, what was that!?" She asked.

Nick stopped and looked around a bit. "Not ours I think." He said looking around. While everyone was trying to find the noise I took the chance to shoot a monster, I shot one and it went right through the eye-hole in his helmet. He turned to dust, and it was like I pressed the play button on a remote. The fighting started again. Snow falling, water flying everywhere from Percy, and arrows flying through the battlefield.

 **"** **ARGH!"** The noise said again, but no one stopped this time. At this point I didn't even care, I just needed to get these monsters. But I noticed the sky was changing. Boreas already made it to where it was like a small blizzard, but I saw some lighting, and the sky was turning dark gray.

 **"** **ARGH!"** It said, but it was close. "Hey, look up there!" I heard a camper yell. I looked up, and I saw the source of the noise. It looked like an airplane made of bronze, but as it got closer, I noticed three people on the back of it. It started to breathe fire, and I knew what it was and who was on its back. It was Festus, with Leo, Jason, and Johnny on it's back. "Oh you guys are screwed now!" Percy yelled with smile.

Festus flew right over the battlefield, and I saw Jason jump off. When he did, the thunder got louder, and lighting was coming down faster. Jason was wearing a purple tank-top with black shorts, like a confused weightlifter. But in his hands was a spear, or javelin. He was holding it like he was going to stab the ground. When he was reaching the ground, his eyes started to glow like Nick's did, but his were yellow. Right when he put his javelin in the ground, lighting struck every monster near him and the ground seemed to move, like an earthquake. It killed every monster near him, and knocked back Boreas, leaving just him and Percy. He looked at Percy. "Good to see you Perc, love the trident." He said calmly. "Good to see you too Thor." Percy said smiling. Jason smiled, and they both lunged for Boreas. I noticed Jason's javelin turned into a sword, awesome weapon. They were a good team.

I looked up and saw Festus going low, and Johnny and Leo jumped out. Johnny dived for a robot, cutting into his shoulder and hanging on like a rodeo. Leo went straight for Khione. He drop kicked her and she fell back on her back. "No, you!" she hissed at him. "What's up ice baby, looking hot as ever!" Leo said with a wink. Khione looked pissed. "Leo Valdez, I am not hot!" She screamed at him. She looked like a toddler grew up and was mad. "Don't get touchy, I'm a taken man" Leo said with a grin. "Good to see you, now help me out." Nick said as he cut at Khione. Leo smiled, he reached in his tool belt and got a hammer. It was a light two hand sledgehammer, looked specially made. It was silver metal, with flame designs on it, and the tip looked red hot. He took it and slammed Khione's head, if she wasn't a goddess she would definitely be dead.

I looked around, I noticed that the other god robots were heading down to the battlefield, great. But Festus swooped down and picked one of them off the ground, he flew in the air and did a barrel roll, and he dropped it on another one destroying them both. 'Powerful dragon." I muttered.

Then something hit me in the side, felt like a soft cannon ball. I fell off the boulder and onto the ground. Whatever it was, it landed on my chest, hurt like hell. I felt a bit dizzy, but I needed to get up. Once I got my bearings, I opened my eyes and realized that Frank was on top of me, unconscious. He had a bad cut across his forehead, causing blood to gush out on his face, he didn't look good. But he was on me, and I couldn't move. "Frank, please wake up!" I yelled at him, but he wasn't moving. I tried to push him off, but he wasn't a light guy, so there goes that guy.

I looked and saw the Hades robot, I came to the realization that it probably threw Frank at me. This wasn't good, I needed to come up with something, fast. I looked around, but all that was around was my bow and a few arrows. But that gave me an idea, a stupid one, but idea nonetheless. I pulled my arms out and reached over and grabbed Ebonwood and an arrow. I put my arms around Frank with the bows still in my hand. I took a breath, if this doesn't work I will die. I reached around his head and put the the bow, and I reached back. One arm was around his neck holding the bow, and the other was over his shoulder holding an arrow. I tried to aim it at the robot as best as I can, I took a breath and let go. The arrow went flying past Frank, and hit the robot right in the eye.

The robot stopped moving, it just stood there. It's red eyes stopped glowing, and it fell forward. When it landed, I saw the arrow sticking out of the other side. I just stared at it, I just shot an arrow through metal. I dropped my bow and sat back. I took a few breaths. "I did it Frank, thanks." I told him, even though he was unconscious. I saw a person walk up. It was Ian. He was my cabin brother, but where as I was good with a bow, he was good with medical equipment. He had curly black hair and had a baby face. He was tall and lanky, and with his glasses he looked like a standard nerd, but was pretty cool, and I have never been happier to see him.

"Anyone injured?!" He asked frantically. "Here." I said weakly, it was hard to talk with Frank on me. Ian looked over and saw me. He ran up to me. "Come on Bethany, he's married." Ian said sarcastically."Shut up and get him to the infirmary." I grumbled at him, I wasn't in the mood. "My bad, lemme try to get him off." He said getting the idea. He tried to pick him up at first, but that didn't work. He reached for his arm and pulled him off of me. I took a breath, i could breathe fully again. I stood up and brushed myself off. "Get him to the infirmary now, I'm going back out." I told Ian. Before he could answer I ran back to the battlefield.

I noticed that there were only four god robots left, thank the gods. The last four was in the middle of the fighting, the Ares kids were surround two of them, so I figured I would try to take care of the other two. I drew an arrow, and aimed it right at the eye of one of them. It was made of silver metal, with blue tubes lining it, and in one hand was a giant hose and the other a trident, must have been Poseidon. I aimed an arrow at one of it's blue eyes, I took a breath and let it fly. The arrow went flying past me, and went right into the robot's eye, going through it. Its blue eyes stopped glowing, and it fell to the ground.

That's when I realized their weakness. "EVERYONE, ATTACK THE EYES, IT'S THE WEAKEST PART OF THE BODY!" I screamed at the campers on the battlefield. They looked at me confused, but they seemed to get the idea. They all started throwing spears at the eyes, and the Apollo kids behind me started to shoot at it's eyes. "We can win this." I told myself.

David jumped up and slammed his war-hammer in the robot's eye, causing it to fall on the ground. Okay, two left, easy peasie. But I saw something flying in the air, it was a person. I noticed it was Johnny in his new went flying down and stabbed a robot in the eye, causing it to fall to the ground, broken. "Yeah Johnny!" I yelled to him. He flashed me a thumbs up. But the robot was about to attack Johnny, I quickly drew an arrow and shot it. It went flying into it's eye, the robot stopped glowing and fell to the ground with a satisfying thump. I fell to my knees.

"We did it." I told myself.


	21. Johnny VII

I felt awesome. I was flying, like actually flying. I hated my dad a bit, but I had to hand it to him, this was awesome. And to top it off, I killed a god robot, sick!

I was also really surprised that I managed to get Leo and Jason to come, because the seemed like the turned the battle around. Jason was basically Thor and Leo was like the Human Torch on steroids. I looked around for Nick, to make sure he was alright. When I got to the battle I wasn't paying too much attention, so I wasn't even trying to find Nick. I looked around, and I found him pretty quickly. Him and Leo were fighting Khione. But Nick had on jeans, that was it, no shirt or anything. But he had a massive wound on his chest, like he got hit by a cannonball, blood was still spilling from it. But it didn't look like he cared much. He was attacking Khione with his sword, and Khione was struggling, Leo stood a far distance away shooting fireballs at Khione, which were equally effective.

But I saw Nick's eyes, he looked pissed at Khione, I feel like he saw something he didn't like in Canada. Nick suddenly jumped in the air and drove his sword through Khione.

"AGH!" She yelled in agony. Nick stared at her with eyes full of anger. "Surrender!" He yelled at her. She looked at him with a flat look, and spat in his face. "Never to a weak demigod!" She hissed at him. Nick furrowed his eyebrows and twisted his sword in Khione. Golden blood came out of her mouth, and she had eyes full of pain. I watched on in horror as Nick practically tortured this women, this wasn't like Nick, he was acting as though Khione had done something to him.

Nick was about to twist his sword again, but Khione slowly lifted her head, and nodded, basically saying she's done. But Nick didn't care. He pushed his sword deeper to where it was protruding from the other side. Khione's eyes went wide, then they shut. She passed out, probably from blood loss "Nick...she's done." Leo said walking up to him. The fighting around us ceased. I looked around and saw the monsters were gone and Boreas was one the ground with Percy and Jason standing over him.

Nick looked around and saw that the fighting was over, he drew his sword back and stumbled back a bit. "Where's Boreas!" Nick said looking around like a madman swinging his sword around. I noticed blood starting to spill from the wound, it looked like he lost all his energy once he defeated Khione, now he was just injured and confused. I saw Chiron galloping towards us.

He looked and Nick with a sympathetic look, then at Boreas, with a look of regret, he was thinking on what to do, but I would trust his decision, he knows best. "Bethany and Leo, get Nick to the infirmary, Jason, Johnny, Percy, Frank, and Thalia will come with me to free the gods." Chiron said. Nobody batted an eye. Leo and Bethany walked up to Nick. "Alright pal, lets get you fixed up." Leo said as he helped Nick walk. Nick slowly nodded his head. Bethany got on his other side and helped him walk away.

Once they left Chiron tuned towards Boreas and gave him a furias look. He marched up to him, and Boreas refused to look up at him. He was probably embarrassed, and to be honest I was happy about that. "You have broken into my home, tried to kill some of these kids who are like children to me, and you try to make this place your own!" He yelled at Boreas. Boreas looked at him. "To be fair, my daughter is unconscious over there." Boreas muttered. Chiron furrowed his eyebrows. But before he blew up with anger, Frank waked up and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Chiron, no one was killed, let's just get the gods and leave it like that." Frank told him. Even if he was the son of a war god, he never wanted to have war, which is why he helped Chiron a lot. Chiron nodded. "Frank is right, just take us to where the gods are, and we'll let you go." Chiron said. Boreas nodded. Boreas cursed something under his breath. "Very well, I'll get out of your hair." He said. He snapped his fingers, and we were back in his castle with no warning.

We were back in the main room, I immediately felt the coldness of the room, I hated it. It even felt colder then before, I wish Leo was here to warm the place up. Actually, come to think of it maybe he would burn the whole place down, so maybe not. "Just like the last time I came here, I still hate it." Jason muttered. "Tell me about it." Percy said looking around. "Watch your tongue, this place is my home." Boreas hissed at him. Frank sighed loudly. "Please no more antagonizing, where are the gods?" Frank asked frustrated. "Follow me." Boreas said motioning us to follow him. He sounded bored, his tone was flat, like a kid at math class, weird for someone who just lost an embarrassing battle.

He walked us to one of the hallways, one of the ones I haven't been through yet. He walked us through, I was in the back, right behind Jason. "So, how did a minor god like you manage to get the Olympians captured?" Thalia asked him. Boreas turned quickly, I had to step in before he went nuts. "Major god you mean, and I'll explain to you guys later." I said quickly. Boreas relaxed his shoulders and kept walking. Frank, Thalia, and Chiron looked back at me confused. I gave a them a look that said don't push it, they nodded and kept walking. Percy seemed to know why I had to intervene, but he seemed almost scared, not like him.

We all walked up to a room, the door was made of metal and I could see a draft coming from under the door. Boreas reached out to grab the handle, but he stopped. His hand was on the handle, but he wasn't moving. "Umm Boreas, you in there?" I asked him. But nothing, he was still. I looked at the others, and they were also frozen.

I waved my hand in front of Jason, but he didn't even blink. "Guys." I said silently. I didn't know what to do, but I noticed something on Percy, his watch. It wasn't moving, just still like everything else. I backed up, scared out of my mind. I turned to run away, but someone was standing at the end of the hall.

He was a tall skinny man, with long dark brown hair like that of polished wood. His skin was pale and eyes were were white, each matching the color of marble. He reminded me of John Lennon without the glasses. He was wearing a suit, but the design of it was like a clock, with different number around it and the hands of a clock all around it, and he had a necklace that had a clock on it. "Who are you?" I asked him silently. _"Shh."_ He said with his finger at his mouth. He had a deep voice that sounded intimidating for a skinny man. But I saw something on his hand, it was a small medallion, it had a snowflake on it. He smiled and snapped his fingers and disappeared, and time seemed to have started back up again. I heard Boreas open the door, and I turned back around. I wanted to tell the other four about what I just saw, but I'd sound crazy if I told them about it, I'd have to tell Chiron later.

Boreas opened the door, and I saw the four gods. They were sitting in chairs chained up, but there clothes looked fine, no dirt or anything, they all looked bored though. There were two men, and two woman, so it was different then the others. One guy had a shaved head with barely any hair, but what was there was black, he also a red t-shirt with a spiked leather jacket over it, he was also wearing black jeans with a chain. I could tell it was David's dad, Ares, the god of war. The girl next to him looked like she was around my age, 14 or 13. She had long brown hair with a blue feather in it. She was wearing a wool jacket and jeans, along with combat boots. She was Artemis, keeper of all the hot girls who I could never get, and also the goddess of the hunt and moon. The girl next to her had on a white dress with a golden crown, her hair was long and black and her face made it seem like she was wealthy, she had that look about her. She was Hera, the goddess nobody likes. And last, and certainly not least, was Zeus, I knew it was him just by looking at him. He had on a black suit with a white button up shirt and a tie that looked like the cloudy sky. His hair and beard was a mix of black and grey, and his hair was so long it was growing into his beard, but he made it look good.

"Lady Artemis!" Thalia said loudly. Artemis gave her a happy look. "Thalia, you don't know how good it is to see you." Artemis said relieved. Thalia turned to Boreas with a furious look. "Where's the key!?" She yelled at him. He sighed loudly, and reached into his pocket and gave her a key ring. But as he did I saw a small tattoo on his arm, a clock. It made my back shiver. I decide not to think about it, but something wasn't right here. But Boreas calmly handed Thalia the key ring. One key was gray, another was red, another was white, and the last was light blue. Thalia grabbed it and took the light blue key out. She threw the key ring at me(which I barely caught) and ran to Artemis and quickly unlocked her chains. Artemis stood up and stretched her back. "Freedom!" She said proudly.

Thalia Pulled her in and hugged her, like a daughter embracing a mother. "We missed you my lady." She said with a tear. Zeus coughed loudly. Thalia shot him a look. "What." She asked him angrily. "You know I'm your dad." Zeus said annoyed. Thalia flipped him the bird. "Enough of this, let us go for my goodness sake!" Hera yelled. "Calm down mother, Olympus must be nice without you." Ares said with a smile. She shot him a dirty look. "Truth." Percy coughed under his breath..

I ignored him and took out the keys, I took the white one and gave the other two to Jason and Frank. I figured it was Hera's, great. I looked at her and she gave me a look of annoyance. "Hurry up boy." She hissed at me. I rolled my eyes and walked behind her. I wanted to say something back, but she might turn me into a cow so I kept my mouth shut. I put the key in and turned, and then the cuffs fell to the ground.

She suddenly stood up, knocking the chair back into me. It hit me in the chest and I went back into the ice wall behind me. Again, I wanted so say something really bad, but the cow thing still scared me. "Agh yes, nice to stand up." She said looking happy. "You're welcome." I muttered under my breath. She looked back at me. "Yes, now by." She said. And she disappeared. "Figures she would do that." I heard Ares say standing up. And then he was gone, I was starting to hate some of these gods, they had a habit of not saying thanks and disappearing.

I stood up and saw that Zeus was up, I actually heard thunder outside, so that's good, I guess. "Thank you all, I've been there for a while now, but we'll have Hephaestus look at the machine, you have helped us greatly, thank you." Zeus said, but he was right at me looking at me.

I felt honored, but what kind of friend would I be if I took all the credit. "Yo boss man, I appreciate it, but it was also Bethany and Nick, they did a bit more then I did." I told him. "Right, well thank you again, and I'll send you all back to camp." Zeus told us. "Why thank you Zeus, most generous." Frank said humbly. "Yeah, I owe you a solid dad." Jason said in a chill voice, literally the opposite of Frank.

But, something wasn't right. Who was that guy I saw, and why did he have a snowflake medallion, I still had questions about everything, but I guess I'll have to ask them later. Zeus snapped his fingers, and we were back at camp.

As we were I felt something in my hand, I looked down and saw a small pocket watch. _"You've been chosen."_ I heard a deep voice say, the same as the guy I saw when time stopped. I was about to say something but we got back to camp.


	22. Nick VIII

**ATTENTION, IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, STAY AROUND ONCE THE CHAPTER IS OVER!**

I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was a little blurry, but I could see a few things. I was in the big house, where I was the first time I woke up in Half-Blood. I was laying under a large blanket, it was furry and made of brown fur. The blanket was on my legs, and I didn't have on a shirt. Instead my lower torso was covered in bandages, I guess I got injured in the fight with Khione and Boreas. But I noticed that I wasn't alone in the room. I tried to to focus, and I saw that it was Lacy.

She had on a camp shirt and khaki shorts. She was standing next to my bed holding my arm, looking at my sword tattoo. Great, no getting out of this, she knows. "Hey" I said quietly. Lacy quickly dropped my arm. "Nick, you're awake!" She said happily. I sat up a bit, to be eye level with her. "Yeah, how long was I out for?" I asked her. Lacy counted her fingers and looked in the air like she was counting. "About four days I think." She said. I started at her with wide eyes.

"Four days?" I asked her. She nodded. "Bethany and Leo brought you in, you were bleeding bad from a wound in your chest, once we got you on the bed, you passed out, the Apollo kids stopped the bleeding and I've been taking care of you since." Lacy said with a smile. I layed back down with my hands in my face. "What would I do without you." I muttered. "I don't know, what would you do?" She said with a smile.

I chuckled under my breath. "Well, can I get out of bed?" I asked her. "Well, I guess, are you ready?" She asked me. Honestly, I didn't feel the greatest, but I figured if I said that she wouldn't let me get up. "I feel great." I said with a smile. She smiled. "Okay, give me a minute." She said. She stood up and walked out of the room.

About two minutes later she came back with a wheelchair with a shirt on it. I just looked at her. "Why do I need a wheelchair?" I asked her. "Well, Chiron said that you would be weak, so you need to be in the wheelchair." She told me.

I cursed under my breath, I didn't want to be pushed around, but I figured I had to. "Fine, can I see that shirt?" I asked her. She smiled and handed me the shirt. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't be mad at Lacy, she was to kind. "Thanks." I said. She smiled again.

The shirt was a camp shirt, the material felt smooth. It slipped on easily. It felt good. But when I put it on Lacy made a look like she saw something she didn't like, I was starting to wonder why my shirt was off in the first place, but I'll worry about it later. I swung my legs out and stood up. But I immediately felt a sharp pain in my chest, like someone driving a spear through it. I fell to the ground grabbing my chest. "Agh!" I groaned loudly as I hit the floor. "Nick!" Lacy said. She bent down and put her hand on my back. I was breathing heavy, it hurt like crap. "I'm sorry, it just hurt all the sudden." I said holding my chest and breathing heavily. "You're good, once you sit down you'll feel better." Lacy said hopefully. I admired her optimism, I needed that every now and then. But she still sounded worried.

She lightly grabbed my arms and helped me up, when I fully stood up the pain eased a bit, but not a lot. "Now let's sit you down." She said nervously. I nodded slowly. She walked me over to the chair and I slowly sat down.

Right when I sat down the pain left, or most of it anyways. I figured I would be in this chair for a while. "Better, thanks Lacy." I said "Well Chiron said he actually needed to talk with you, so we'll head that way." Lacy told me. I could tell she was relieved that I was better, her voice sounded softer. "I don't think I did anything wrong, so I guess." I said sarcastically. Lacy smiled. "Okay then, he's on the front porch." Lacy said.

She wheeled me out of the room and through the big house, the wooden floor was creaking under the chair, the noises scared me, but I knew the floor wouldn't collapse under me, hopefully.

We got to the door and she opened the door, the cool air felt good on my skin, like standing in front of a fan. The sun also felt good on my face, the warmness made me smile. I saw Chiron sitting on the porch in his wheelchair, maybe to make feel better about being in one. He turned and smiled when he saw me. "Nick, good to see you up and about." He said with a smile. I smiled back. "Yeah, glad to be outside, I was getting tired of that bed." I said. He chuckled a bit. "Well, before I give you the big news, some people want to say a quick hello." he said smiling. Then from around the corner I saw Bethany and Johnny walk up. Bethany had on a camp shirt and khaki shorts, Johnny had on a Queen shirt and jeans. But they each had on a leather necklace, like mine but each of there's had a clay bead on it. The bead was bright blue and had a snowflake on it, it looked nice.

"Sup bro, good to see you." Johnny said laughing. "Hey guys!" I said happily, it was good to see them again. "Hey Nick, feeling better?" Bethany asked me. "I'm fine, ready to walk though." I said laughing. She smiled. "Yeah, well we wanted to say thanks for inviting us on the quest, it was loads of fun." Johnny said. "Yeah, I can now say I've been on a quest." Bethany said.

"Let's be honest, who else would I bring, you guys are our my best friends." I said smiling. "True, and your only friends." Johnny said. "I see how it is." Lacy muttered.

"Well we're going to lunch, catch up with us after you're done with Chiron, okay?" Bethany asked me. "Definitely, see you guys later." I said. I gave them each a high five as they walked by, I love those guys.

 **REMINDER, STAY AROUND BECAUSE THERE IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER.**

"Now, onto the matter at hand, this is for you." Chiron told me handing me something. He dropped it in my hand and I looked at it. It was a necklace, just like the one Bethany and Johnny had on, leather with the light blue bead with the snowflake on it. "You get that after your first quest, each bead represents a quest you went on, so congratulations Nick." Chiron said proudly. I held it like a fragile piece of glass, it felt good to get a reward for something.

"Wow Chiron, I don't know what to say." I said holding the necklace. "Just take it, would you mind helping him put it on Lacy?" Chiron asked her. She smiled and nodded. I handed it to her and she put it on my, it fit well, I liked it. It went right over my other necklace.

"And just one more thing." Chiron said. "What is it?" I asked him. "Well, I think you should go to school, but I know your behind." Chiron said. He wasn't wrong, I hadn't been to school in a few years. I didn't want to ask, but he had a look that said he had an idea. "And your proposal?" I asked him. "Annabeth offered to tutor you over the summer to get you caught up, and then I figured you could go to school with Lacy, since you two seem to get along so well." Chiron said. I turned back and looked at Lacy, who was smiling like The Joker.

"Sounds good then, but I'm ready for lunch and need to think about all of this, peace Chiron." I said. He nodded and waved me away.

Once we got off the stairs Lacy squealed a bit. "Aren't you excited Nick!" She told me happily. "Yeah, I just can't wait for school." I said sarcastically. She hit my in the shoulder lightly with a laugh. "It's not that bad, now let's get some lunch or I'll keep you in that room for the rest of the day." She said with a smile. "No arguing against that, let's go then." I said. She smiled and kept pushing me.

Going to the lunch pavilion I realized how much I liked this place, mostly because it was now my home, and I can't wait for the summer. I also still had questions, but my mind was on lunch, and the adventures I'd have this coming year.

 **THERE ARE MORE STORIES! Now that I have your attention I have some very exciting announcements. First, I want to say thank you for all the support you guys have been giving me, thank you so much it means a lot, if you haven't reviewed I would love for you guys to drop a review, so thank you all so much and I love you all. Now, onto the important thing you need to know. I'm sure you all have questions, like where's Reyna? Who is the guy Johnny saw? Who is the pirate kid? How does Nick actually turn into a smurf hulk? Why does the author have so many spelling errors? Well, the answer to the last one is that I'm simply lazy, but the other ones will be answered soon. Because I'm currently working on a part two to the Winter's Touch, it is going to be called Fear in the Forest. I plan to have a total of five different stories to this series! I don't know when they will all come out, but keep an eye on my account. Anyways, I've got a new story to write, thank you for all the support and have a blessed day, and don't forget to check out Fear in the Forest when it comes out!**


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